


Something I've Never Had

by tardis_bug



Category: 6969 - Ninja Sex Party (Song), Cool Patrol - Ninja Sex Party (Song), Game Grumps, Orgy For One - Ninja Sex Party (Music Video), Starlight Brigade - TWRP ft. Dan Avidan (Music Video)
Genre: Cute, Cute things, Daddy Kink, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff, Smut, i just love Dan Avidan okay, relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 32,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22514818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardis_bug/pseuds/tardis_bug
Summary: You've been watching the Grumps since forever, and once there was an opportunity to intern at the Grumps office, you seized it immediately. You meet everyone as you expect. Ryan, Matt, Ross, Holly, Suzy, everyone. Life couldn't get any better.Too bad your favorite Grump, Dan, decides to make your life pretty interesting.
Relationships: Dan Avidan & Reader, Dan Avidan/Original Character(s), Dan Avidan/You, arin - Relationship
Comments: 9
Kudos: 51





	1. Meeting The Grumps

To say that it all seemed like a dream was an understatement. It seemed terribly corny and cringey comparing this situation to a dream. But really, that's what it felt like. Who would've ever thought you would've crawled out of bed, logged onto Twitter, saw Ross O' Donovan's tweet, retweeted it, and now you were on a plane to LA.

Ross was picking out a random animation after retweeting his tweet and whatever animator he picked got a free all expense paid pass to the Grump Space for a few days. You'd just picked up animation as a hobby but you were interested in so many other things. You had a passion for music. You wanted to write it, make it, produce it. You loved video games too, and loved the variety and assorted types, good and bad.

This is why you fell so in love with Game Grumps. It's also why you're sitting here on a plane by yourself, having a constant panic attack about how this all was literally happening right now and soon you would be there. In the Grump Space. Not a lot of people could say that.

You had texted and called your family to let them know where you were going and you didn't even feel bad to say that you didn't miss them. Of course you did, but more important things were racing through your mind at the moment.

Would Danny be there? What about Barry?

You still watched Barry and even Jon on occasion, but it was a very long shot to hope they would be there.

What about Suzy? God if Suzy was there you'd freak. She was drop dead gorgeous and cute and had the sickest tattoos.

Matt and Ryan would more than likely be there too the more you thought about it. It would be interesting to say the least if you met them.

Oh my god what if Holly was there? You could ask to see all of her birbs!

Looking out the window and spying some birds flying by the planes wing, you thought about Holly's huge pigeon sanctuary and all of the soft coos that inhabited it every second. The closer you got to land, the more you saw of the birbs, and the more excited you got. The time was coming.

The plane landed a few minutes after, and you were lead out down into the airport. Left to your own devices at this point, you walked yourself out of the airport after waiting for your luggage, and hauled a cab to drive to the address that Ross had sent you.

Was this still a dream? A fan fiction? A movie? It had to be fiction, you knew.

LA was busy to say the least, but the Uber you called was pleasant and made sure you were comfortable as he drove you over to the Grump's office. That put you a little more at ease.

Your heart started pounding when the Uber started slowing down and said that you were getting close. Your driver lead you to a huge building made of brick and had a few doors near the entrance. This has to be it since he had parked to a stop.

"Have a nice day ma'am." He bid you farewell and smiled before taking off and speeding away. You were left alone again at the front steps of the Grump Space. You weren't sure if you were supposed to go in or...knock? Call? The building looked like a huge office space, which it was. But it was dark and you couldn't see much of what was inside.

As you were trying to peek in, a human figure made its way to the door and you looked back down to see that it was Ross's head. He offered a small shy smile and asked,"Hello! Are you Y/N?"

You nodded and smiled back,"Yeah, that's me."

"Perfect!" Ross became more loose and at ease now that he knew who you were and not a random stranger staring at his work building. He poked his head out more and pushed the glass door more open to invite you inside,"I was wondering when you'd get here. Come inside."

You accepted his offer and held onto your bag as you walked in. You only stepped in a few steps inside before turning back to Ross.

"Was your trip alright?"

"Yeah! The plane ride was good. And LA is so huge.."

Ross chuckled and shut the door, then locked it,"Agreed. You'll get used to it eventually. It's kind of intimidating at first. I've been here awhile now and there's still places I haven't ever seen or been to."

Ross started walking ahead of you so naturally you followed after him down a staircase. For a goofy asshole, Ross was very nice and considerate to you. You told yourself not to act like a socially awkward penguin for as long as this took or else you would definitely kill yourself when you got back.

The moment was definitely coming. You were hit with the smell of something fruity as you descended down the stairs to the Grump Office. There were neon lights on the ceiling in the hallway you were in.

Ross turned a corner,"Down here's where all of our cool little cubicles are, but I'll show you those after I show you your workspace, alright? Everyone's probably in the living room anyway, so we can get intros out of the way." Ross inclined his head towards you as you passed down a few Asian inspired cubicles,"You aren't nervous are you?"

You let a nervous laugh slip, clinging to your bag,"God, yes."

"Don't worry. We'll get to know you before we start picking on you." Ross winked, making you feel a little bit more comfortable in this soon to be very awkward meeting.

Honestly you were still reeling from walking with Ross. You watched him draw, animate and VRchat since forever..now he was standing near you.

Get over the star struck sickeness Y/N..you told yourself.

As the hallway suddenly started to expand, you realized Ross had led you into a larger, recreation looking room.

You immediately saw a group of people strewn about the room. You recognized Arin chilling on a couch next to a girl, who you knew was Suzy. There were a few other people you couldn't put a name to sitting on the couch, but you knew everyone else. You saw Vernon standing next to Arin and looking down as he talked to him while holding a drink in his hand. Out of the corner of your eye, behind the couch, you saw a slender figure with a shorter one, looking to be in a heated debate with a hot dog. It looked like Ryan, and the taller one wasn't Matt, it was Danny. The hair was a dead giveaway. The sudden thought that you were actually in the same room as all of these people you idolize was enough to make you fall on the floor and faint..or die. Dying right now would be great.

You were out of breath but Ross made his way around to the couch and waved to everyone,"Hey guys, awkward intro time. Here's the new intern that's gonna be working with me. Her names Y/N. "

Suzy was the first to say something. She stood up and held out her hand once she was close to you. Her striking and colorful eyes startled you in a pleasurable way and her makeup captivated you as it always had. She was very chirpy but not to the point where it was annoying. It was more comforting than anything.

Other people were still chatting while looking at you as Suzy greeted you,"Hi Y/N. It's nice to meet you. I'm Suzy."

"Yeah, I know." You blurted out. Now you really wanted to die. "I mean..I've..uh. I've watched Kitty Kat Gaming..and Game Grumps for like, ever. So I pretty much-"

That made Suzy laugh,"I gotchya dude. No worries. It's pretty awesome here so I hope you feel comfy. The people are pretty awesome too." She jerked her thumb to all of the other characters behind her.

Arin took that gesture to get up and stand beside his wife to greet you. Jesus Christ Arin was coming up to you.

Jesus Christ don't sound so cheesy and fan girly, Y/N.

"Hey. I'm Arin." His voice was deep, jovial. He held out his hand and you shook it while smiling back at him.

"Y/N..It's really awesome to meet you Arin. You too Suzy." You switched from looking at Suzy to Arin, containing every little fan thing you wanted to scream at them. "I've always wanted to meet you guys, I never had enough money to buy tickets for your live shows but it's such an honor to be here right now." You said as genuinely and as humbly as you could muster.

Arin's smile got bigger and he put his arm around Suzy,"That means a lot Y/N. Thanks. I think it'll be great having you around. We could use a new face."

Wait...did Ross say you were an intern? As in, stay here for more than a few days, intern??

Vernon was next to greet you and held out his hand when he was close enough,"Hi. I'm Vernon Shaw."

"Y/N." You replied with a nod and a genuine smile.

"I hope these idiots won't make you too uncomfortable, but if they do, just let me know alright?" He said after gesturing to Matt, Danny, Arin, Suzy, and Ross who was now with a man in greying hair. It was Ninja Brian himself.

You laughed a little and let go of Vernon's hand after shaking it, "I think I can handle them, but thank you."

"Ryan here! Nice to meet you." Ryan pushed his way through to shake your hand.

His quickness took you off guard but you greeted him anyway. Arin and Suzy sat back down on the huge couch as you spoke,"Hey Ryan. I'm Y/N. Are you from that show...SuperMega?" You tried to maintain your ignorance and forced back a huge grin.

From behind Ryan, you heard Danny and Arin start giggling. You didn't have to look to know it was them, you listened to their childish laughter for years.

Ryan rolled his eyes but nodded,"Yes. I'm glad someone knows."

Grump and Not-So-Grump laughter still ensued in the background.

You decided to put Ryan at ease,"I do. I watch you guys all the time too." You leaned in a little to whisper,"I think you may even be a little better than Game Grumps.."

Vernon who was beside Ryan overheard and snickered, while Arin and Danny were outraged and said simultaneously,"EXCUSE ME?!"

You found yourself laughing too and let go of Ryan's hand.

Now it was Dans turn to greet you. He had a smile on his face despite him being upset a few seconds ago,"I'm Danny. Pleasure to meet you Y/N"

"Same to you Danny." Your smile was somewhat bigger when you shook Danny's hand, his was rough and huge, and made your feel exceptionally tiny.

You leaned in to Danny too, not too close though. But you were close enough to smell his cologne, which was heavenly.

"Don't worry. Game Grumps is my all time fave."

"Damn straight it is!" He smiled back and let go of your hand.

You lingered on Dan for a second before Brian came up behind you with his hand outstretched hand. You turned to greet him as well,"Dr. Wecht." You shook his hand.

"Miss Y/N." He formally greeted you back.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasures all mine." The grey haired physicist let go of your hand.

Ross took over your attention by waving you over to the halls where the cubicles are,"Y/N! Come over here, I'll show you everyone's space including yours."

"Okay!" You turned to everyone and gave them a little wave,"Nice meeting you all. I'm sure I'll see you around." You ran slightly over to Ross to catch up and once you were in the hallway you took a deep breath. Did you forget to breathe that whole time?

"Alright. First on the right is my little office."

————————————

Ryan smacked Danny on the arm,"Yo. Dan. You gonna get me a new hot dog now?"

"Huh?" Dan whirled around to look at the desperate Ryan, who wanted another hot dog after Dan had eaten it. He was looking out after Y/N, the new intern girl, but Ryan had disrupted his thoughts and Dan wasn't the least bit happy about it. "Yeah, I'll get you a new friggin' hot dog you little shit."

"Thanks buddy." Ryan sarcastically slapped Dan on the back as they made their way to the office's kitchen.


	2. Bathroom and Feelings

Coincidentally, it was Wednesday, and time to record a session for Grumps. Arin and Dan had been talking a bit before, and were now headed to the recording room with snacks and drinks in hand.

"Arin," Dan said,"You know you don't have to keep playing Majora's Mask right?"

"Nope!" Arin raised his arms with La Croix in one hand,"What the lovelies want, the lovelies get. Especially if its my eternal pain and suffering of playing this game."

Dan breathed a laugh and plopped himself down on the couch almost at the same time as Arin,"We'll be sure to tell them that."

"Hey, what'd you think of that new intern?" Arin queried as he grabbed the TV remote to turn it on.

"Hmm?" Danny was in the middle of popping a few skittles into his mouth.

"The girl that Ross brought in today. Y/N"

"Oh, Y/N?" Dan swallowed and crossed his legs to get more comfortable,"She seems pretty cool."

"Yeah. She looked super young too. Isn't she like, 19 or 20?"

"Arin I just met and heard of her today, how the hell would I even know how old she is?"

Arin shrugged,"Just didn't know if you knew. You know some things that I don't Daniel!" He playfully raised his voice and turned his attention to the Nintendo 64. He realized that it wasn't on, and the fact that he had to get up to turn it on. "Fuck me..gotta exert energy into turning on the fucking Nintendo 64."

"Why is it called the Nintendo 64? IT obviously wasn't made in 1964..was it?"

"You know, Dan.." He paused as he knelt down to turn the console on, then shared eye contact with Dan,"That is a good question." He sat himself down with a long exhale,"You know what else is a good question?"

"Does Bruno Mars Is Gay?"

Arin erupted into laughter, causing Dan to join in. Both of the men's heads were thrown back onto the back of the couch.

"Oh my god.." Dan sniffled in between giggling fits,"That has to be one of my favorite callbacks.."

"I almost fucking forgot about that, holy shit.." Arin cracked up a bit more before taking a deep breath,"Now, although that is a good ass question, what I mean to say was; what do you think about her?"

"Her who? Is Bruno a woman now?" Dan joked, and got a few more laughs out of his buddy.

"Jesus..no. I'm talking about that new intern girl still."

"Oh! Gotchya."

"So.." The console started up and the Nintendo 64 logo appeared on the TV screen,"What do you think about her? Do you hate her or something?"

"What? No. I love her! I mean.." Dan choked. Jesus Christ Dan, you can't just say that!

Arin made a weird, yet concerned face to his fellow host. His eyebrows rose up a few inches.

"I--I meant that I like her. She seems super cool. Why you ask?"

"Just wanted your opinion on her. I admire her honestly, she's that young and already she's doing great at animating. Good enough for Ross to pick her out of everyone else."

"Yeah, and Ross is a damn good animator." Dan added.

"Agreed. I'm actually kinda excited to have her around."

Danny's heart skipped around a little bit when Arin said that but he scarfed down skittles to ignore it. He focused on the system starting and Arin maneuvering around the title screen for Majora's Mask.

"Why's that?"

"Well, aren't you?" Arin tilted his head at Dan,"We got a new person in the office. I'm always excited to meet new, cool people."

"Yeah. Me too."

A few moments of silence broke through as Arin selected his save file and put his drink on a table beside him. His eyes darted to Dan again who was still focused on the game and its 'great' graphics.

"Dude.." Arin started,"Do you not like her or something?"

"No. Arin.." He sighed,"It's not that I don't like her," He couldn't just confess to Arin. He wasn't even sure of himself. Could he tell that to Arin?

It took Arin a minute, and when he got it, his eyes narrowed and his lips turned upward into a sly grin,"Oh..you like like her don't you?"

"What?" Jesus Christ he had hoped Arin wouldn't have come to that conclusion, but he was kinda acting like he liked her, wasn't he? Shit. "Arin I'm like twice her age."

"And? You've dated girls that young before."

"Yeah, but.."

"You didn't say you didn't like like her." Arin turned back to the game, acting like a gossipy middle school girl.

"No, but.." He said firmly,"I don't like like her. Arin. It's just like.." Dan thought for a moment while Arin was making some adjustments on his phone, setting up the timer and such,"It's like when Matt and Ryan first came here."

"The first day they were here and you met them, you were blabbering on about how much you loved them."

Dan gave up. If he couldn't come up with an excuse, he'd just drop it. Such a mature almost 40 year old. 

"Shut up and play the game Arin."

"Yes sir Danny boi." Arin proceeded to start the timer and winked at Danny. 

Dan knew Arin would drop it. He'd probably pick it back up and shove it in Danny's face again at a certain point. For now, they could just chill and play some games.

That's what Dan thought at first..ever since that conversation, Dan couldn't get the image of Y/N out of his mind. He wasn't 100 percent focused on Arin's game play, as terrible as it may have been. He kept picturing her hair..the way her lips moved when she spoke. How she smelled when she leaned in to Dan in order to take a jab at Ryan. Dan seriously hoped he remembered to put cologne on this morning.

"Hey..Dan..you alright?"

Arin saying his name caught Dan's attention and snapped him out of the small daydream of Y/N talking to him about unicorns. He blinked and pretended he was invested in Arin playing the game,"Yeah? You forget how to turn into the Deku kid?"

"No..is something up buddy?" Arin paused the game and looked at Dan, hair dangling down his shoulders just by a few hairs.

"Nah. I'm fine man."

"Seriously, dude. Talk to me. Matt and Ryan can edit all of this out."

Dan stared at Arin for the longest time. Could he really tell Arin about this? He's had endless deep talks with him before, a good handful of them were about girls. Arin was his best friend. He always confided him with everything...so why was he even hesitating talking about Y/N?

"Well.." Danny sighed,"You asked about Y/N, and that got me all frustrated. And then I got frustrated that I was even feeling that way, and then I tried to hide it..and I just got more frustrated from there. You know what I mean?"

Arin laid back against the couch,"So you do like like her?"

"I don't know." Dan said simply. Was that really so hard. "I'm pretty sure its infatuation."

"Oh, so you think she's cute?" 

Danny's eyes widened as color grew on his cheeks,"I didn't say that Arin." He pretended to be more calm than his heart was at that moment.

Arin was playing around now, shouting at the top of his lungs in the soundproofed recording groom they were in,"Matt and Ryan! Don't cut any of this out! Keep it!"

The playfulness Arin was showing made Dan smile too, and made his leg come up to kick Arin's own leg,"You fucking asshole!"

\--------------------------------

"Oh my god are these the Portal bathrooms?" No longer embarrassed or ashamed, you let out a squeal in Ross's presence.

Ross nodded with a smirk,"You'd be correct. Go on ahead." He gestured for you to go into the women's one, to which you needed no further words.

The neon lights were beautiful, and lit up the room just enough so you could see when you were doing your business. It was even more than all of the pictures the Grumps shared.

"Ross, this is fucking awesome!" You cursed, and couldn't have a care in the world.

You heard Ross laughing outside, and you were so overjoyed you were spinning around in the room. You had to continue the tradition. You pulled out your phone and positioned yourself perfectly so you were beside the famous Portal mirrors. You snapped a few pics and saved them so you could upload them later. Maybe you'd get more than 20 likes on those.

"Do you actually have to go to the bathroom or..?" Ross spoke outside the door.

Taking in one last look for now, you grinned at the room as if to say goodbye and rushed back out as quick as you came in. Ross was still standing at his post, happy that you were still pumped.

"Sorry..I've just always wanted to see that bathroom in person."

"No, its cool. Its pretty fuckin sweet. Want me to keep showing you around?" Ross gestured ahead down the hall, where it was unexplored territory.

With a nod, you straightened yourself up and positioned your bag better on your shoulder,"Yeah! Lead on Ross."

"Will do."

The first thing that came up was a large recording studio, with those foam squares all over, but it was nicely furnished. Then you realized--you recognized that couch, that lighting, that TV, that game that was being played. You recognized those Grumps heads.

"Holy shit is this where Dan and Arin record?"

"I think you may be right." Ross jerked his head at the window that was besides the entrance to the recording room.

You two stood there long enough to catch the Grumps attention. Ross waved first, which made you wave as well. Arin and Dan waved at the same time, smiling as they were saying something. You couldn't hear it though.

"Oh shit, are they recording right now?" You worriedly turned your head to Ross for an answer.

"Yeah, but its no big deal. I fuck with them and bother them all the time when they're recording. Same with Matt and Ryan."

"Good, I didn't want to bother them." You turned your head back to look at them. Arin was engaged with an Octorock at the moment while Dan was still looking at you. He did that thing where you made eye contact with someone but that person realized they were looking too long so they look away and pretended that none of that had happened. You knew, you did that many a time.

You felt your face get a little warm but you continued to watch the two men you'd listen to for 4 years. 

"We can come talk to them later. I'll continue to show you around, I think your space is nearby here." Ross gestured to the left of the hall, but made sure to wave again before you and him departed.

\----------------------------

"Oh..look, it's Ross." Arin glanced over at the window and waved. Dan did the same and saw Y/N. She really was cute. And pretty. And sexy.

"And the new intern girl."

"She has a name, Daniel." Arin poked at him, moving a little closer to the microphone. They were recording currently, so all of the lovelies were hearing this, or were going to. Maybe Matt and Ryan would edit this out, who knows.

"You think I have time to remember everyone's names?" Dan said in a joking fashion, letting a small laugh out. After a pause he continued the bit,"Adrien?"

"Adrien? That's what you think my name is?" Arin acted bewildered. Their humor was always genuine, and the two absolutely loved to play off of each others words. 

"Oh, sorry..Alex."


	3. What Is It?

This had to have been a dream. You literally have always wanted your own office. Not in a boring office cubicle that sold paper or something, but in a great office that did great things, just like this one. You had your own space. At the Grump Office. Ross was showing you the computer that was already set up and the empty shelves and things you could decorate with. Already you were planning out everything you could put on the shelves, stick on the walls, and place on your desk.

"And I can give you a quick tour of what's on the desktop. You have your tablet handy?" Ross bent over next to you while you sat comfortably in the cushiony and very spinnable office chair.

You nodded in affirmation and leaned down to grab your tablet case.

"Good!" Ross waited for you to get it set up and showed you the ropes around the computer and the various programs. "Paint Tool Sai is already on here, and there's a few animation programs on here as well that you can test out and try for yourself. Of course, if you need help with anything you can ask me or anyone else around the office. Alright?"

"Alright." You chirped, smiling to yourself as you were giddy with excitement just looking at the typical background of the monitor. "Thank you Ross. For everything." You turned to look at him, to make sure you were sincere to him.

You hoped he got the message, because he was already starting to head out the door,"No problem Y/N. I'm gonna let you be free today and have you get used to everything, but tomorrow I'll have your first assignment. Sound good?" You nodded and he was already on his way,"Good luck! Holler if you need anything!"

He left you alone to your own little world. You were sitting in your own little bubble that was soon going to be even more of your own, but first, you needed to set everything up on the computer. You needed to update the driver on your tablet, test the animation programs, and figure out if you wanted to use SAI or good old Krita. 

\-----------------------------------------------

"A party? I think that's an awesome idea."

"I thought so too. It'd be a chance for all of us to get to know her more and to make her feel even more comfortable."

"She's super cute." Suzy grinned and nudged Holly,"You haven't met her yet, but she's a really cool gal."

Holly swished her drink around,"What's her name again?"

Vernon replied,"Y/N. Ross didn't tell you about her?"

"He did, just not much details about her."

"She seemed a little shy and awkward, so I'm sure you and her will get along just fine Holly." Vernon tried joking with her and it worked because Holly rolled her eyes but spoke sweetly.

"That's a start. When's the party?"

"Tomorrow night I think would be a good time. Matt will be here too so he can meet her as well, and the whole Dream Daddy team."

"Who's catering?" Suzy rubbed her hands together and pretended like she was going to dig into a feast.

"I haven't figured that out yet Suzy, but--"

"I'll help then! Ooh! We should all make something!" Suzy's smile grew ear to ear.

Holly was more into it now, she was girling out with Suzy,"Oh my god, yes! That's perfect. We haven't had a little get together in a long time."

"Perfect..then I'll just tell everyone about it. You guys spread the word too, okay?" Vernon gestured between the two of them, yet none of them were paying him any attention. Holly was rambling on about spinach and Suzy was talking about a special ramen that Arin could make.

"Good talk guys."

\---------------------------------------------

It took almost all day, but you felt like you were finally at least a little familiar with the computer and its programs. Your hand was cramping very slightly from the doodling you did, so you took that as a sign to stop. Throughout the day, Ross had come to check up on you to see how you were doing, and answered the few questions you had, but other than him, only Vernon came to check on you. You didn't mind it. You knew everyone had been busy.

On your way out of your little cubicle, you passed Vernon on the way to the kitchen to grab a water bottle,"Hey Vernon." You greeted.

"Hey! Y/N! Just the girl I was looking for."

"You were..looking for me?" You kept your eyes on him as you went around the counter and opened the fridge.

"Yeah!" He leaned on the counter that was in between you two,"I just wanted to tell you we're all having a little 'party' of sorts tomorrow. Kind of to celebrate you being here. We also haven't all got together anyway. It would be great if you could meet everyone here...unless you don't want to come, of course. That's alright too."

"Oh no!" You swiped a cold water bottle and shut the fridge,"I would love to come! I mean..I sleep here anyway, so its not like I have a choice, but I think a little party would be fun!" 

You are literally the worst at parties. So many people you don't know, over stimulation of all the senses. Maybe this party would be different though. You met almost all of the Grumps and you didn't throw up or have a full blown panic attack, so what would be the harm in attending a party here?

"Awesome! Everyone's bringing food, so don't feel like you have to cook something. And I'll contact you in some way, shape, or form of what time it is."

With a snap! and a small flick of your wrist, you opened the water bottle,"Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks Vernon."

You sipped at the liquid as he waved you off and took his leave,"No problem! I'll see you later!"

Speaking of later, after you waved goodbye to Vernon, you glanced your phone with water in your other hand and saw that it was getting on to be 10 o clock at night. It was late. Who else was here? Hopefully you didn't disturb anyone. 

It was kind of a scary thought spending the night in a huge place inhabited with people you didn't know, in a new state, a new town, but for some reason you felt safe here. The 'bedrooms' looked comfortable enough to sleep on, and maybe eventually you'd get an apartment nearby. Unfortunately Ross's internship didn't include housing. Not that the Grumps' beds were bad, but it wasn't your own bed.

As you were running all of this through your head, you made your way to the lounge room where you had met mostly everyone and plopped down on the couch where Arin and Suzy were sitting earlier. You were checking all social medias on you phone while sipping your healthy and oh so fresh water. You hadn't uploaded the Portal bathroom pics yet so you decided to do so, and slowly but surely people were liking it. People you didn't even know were liking it. Anything that got more than 30 likes boosted your ego a little too much.

"See you Arin!"

A distant voice made you turn your head to the other side of the room. You were scrolling through Twitter now, and ironically, the Grump without a Twitter emerged into the room. He was in a leather jacket and skinny jeans, with a band t shirt underneath. Classic Danny attire.

\----------------------------

"See you Arin!" Dan shouted out later Arin, who was taking the back exit. When he turned straight ahead, there was Y/N. Sitting on the couch. All by herself. Lips wrapped around a water bottle. "Oh, god."

"Hi, Danny."

God she said his name. It was the same as when she first said it, sweet, genuine and friendly. 

"Hey Y/N!" Act cool Dan..act cool. "What're you doing out here? Just chillaxing?" 

Who the fuck says chillaxing?

Wait..she's smiling, she's laughing. You did good!

Y/N breathed a laugh after swallowing a swig. She placed the water beside her and quirked her head up to Dan as he approached. He was already much taller than her, even more so when she was sitting and he was standing. 

Dan hated being a sexually active man. Oh, he hated it so much. He was standing over her now, leaning over the back of the couch so he could converse.

He was close enough to smell her perfume. It was sweet, yet tangy. It definitely enticed him. Y/N had turned her body sideways so she could talk to him too. She was still smiling, thank God. Danny wasn't doing anything bad so far.

"You could say I'm chillaxing. What are you up to? You headed out?" 

The little lilt in her voice when she asked questions..

Danny get a hold of yourself you sound like you're in love with her.

"Yeah, Arin and I just finished recording..but you saw that earlier." He chuckled.

Y/N chuckled back,"Yeah. It was so freaking cool seeing that set up..and seeing you two record in real time."

"So..you're a fan then?"

Way to sound douchey Danny.

"Of course!" Y/N perked herself up and her smile grew,"I've watched you guys for like..4 years. Every day."

"Wow.." Dan blinked in wonder and ran his hand through his hair,"You're a dedicated lovely."

Dan glimpsed her cheeks turn a bit red after he said that, but she was still laughing, so that was positive. Nothing too creepy, he just called her what he called all of the other fans.

"You could say that."

"Did you.." Dan glanced around, seeing no one in sight,"get everything done?" Now you sound like an idiot. "I mean, I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to animation and what Ross does but.." He paused, then arched an eyebrow at Y/N,"He isn't fucking with you is he? Ross can be a major asshole."

She giggled. Danny had been in the music business for years, but he hadn't heard anything as sweet as that little sound of laughter that came from Y/N. He's said that same line to so many girls..and he only half meant it until now. He took her in while he could.

"He hasn't been fucking with me..not that I've noticed. He was actually really helpful and he checked up on me a lot."

"Good." Danny nodded and flipped his hair a little bit,"If he does ever fuck with you though and you aren't having it, just tell me..or Arin. Or anyone else really. We all hate Ross sometimes."

There was that giggle again. Y/N took a small drink of water. Dan took this time to look away for a second, he felt like he was staring or ogling her.

"I will, Dan. Promise." She tipped her water bottle towards him and took another sip.

"I mean it." He added,"If you even get slightly angry--"

"I understand..You'll be the first to know. Thank you." 

Danny smiled back, trying not to look totally in awe,"No problem..uh.." He cleared his throat and definitely didn't stare at Y/N as she gulped down more of her water,"If you don't mind me asking..do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Y/N almost choked on her drink. She spilled a little on herself and on the ground, but she was alive and coughing slightly,"Wow.." she said between coughs.

"Holy shit, you alright?" Danny frantically but not too crazily veered to the front of the couch and sat involuntarily beside her on the couch. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with his hands, so he held them out a good few inches around her figure, not touching her but close enough for her to know Danny was willing to comfort or help her.

"Yeah.." She coughed once more with a weak smile,"I was just really shocked at that terrible line.."

Danny easily became horrified. He honestly wasn't trying to flirt with her, especially with a pathetic line like that!

"Oh..It..it wasn't a line." Dan said simply, shaking his head but still concerned when Y/N was clearing her throat. 

"It wasn't?" Y/N teased with a cheeky smile. She had recovered now and was feeling playful, Dan saw.

"No. I assure you, I have a lot more lines that are much higher in quality."

"Mmhmm.." Y/N hummed with a sarcastic eye roll.

Dan decided to play along, it was going alright so far,"I'm Danny Sexbang, if you forgot that. And he's got all kinds of game."

This felt..natural. Nervewracking, but natural. He was worrying way too much, but was it even appropriate to flirt with her? Right now of all times?

"I'm sure." She said, still unimpressed. Dan frowned a little as she wiped herself down from the little patches of water that were on her clothes.

"Really though.." Dan switched his tone to caring and worrisome,"I just wanted to make sure yiu weren't sleeping in the back alley."

Y/N lifted her head up to look at Dan. The way she moved her hair behind her ear to see him entranced him so much he almost didn't know she was speaking,"I appreciate that Dan. Yes, I have a place to sleep tonight. One of the beds in here. For now." She hesitated, glancing around,"Until I get enough money to get my own apartment."

"Smart." Dan nodded, leaning on his elbows that were resting on his knees,"Kinda shitty of Ross to pay for your plane ticket but not for a real bed for you."

Y/N smiled once more and it just kept taking Dan's breath away. It never stops,"I think you just want an excuse to beat Ross up."

Danny shared her grin and shrugged his shoulders, making a small squeak sound with the leather material he wore,"We're all always looking for one." He shifted somewhat in his seat and made sure Y/N was listening,"My main reason for asking was that if you didn't..you could crash at my place tonight."

"That another line?" Y/N sized him up, the corner of her mouth curling.

Frustrated, but too proud to show it to Y/N, Danny shook his head while snickering,"I swear to God its not..I was just curious and I wanted to help you out if I can. I still do. Whatever you need." 

The two locked eyes for a few seconds, but Y/N was the one who broke the stare off. God, her eyes were a sight to behold.

Her adorable face was beaming red but she was still smiling through, talking to the ground,"That's very generous Danny. Thank you for the offer." When she thanked him, she tilted her head to look up at him, resuming the eye contact,"I'm good though. Thank you." 

Gently, Y/N raised her hand and placed it on Danny's shoulder. She no way touched skin, but Danny could feel her warmth through his jacket. It made his stomach feel light, airy, yet burn at the same time. He dared to glance at her hand, then right back into her eyes,"You're welcome. I'm always here if you need me Y/N. We all like you..and we want you to feel comfortable here."

"I feel so honored being liked by everyone." She took her hand off of Danny's shoulder, and he instantly felt cold, and the feeling in his stomach fade away.

"You're a pretty likeable person, Y/N."

"Thank you." She spoke softly, sweetly, and quietly. She yawned shortly after saying so, and Danny took that as his cue to go. Despite how much he wished he could be with Y/N all the time, he needed sleep, and needed to leave this conversation before he screwed something up by doing something stupid..or saying anything more stupid.

"Well," Dan clapped his knees before pushing himself up to stand. He was now towering over Y/N again. "I best be heading out then. I'll see you tomorrow, sleepyhead?" She yawned again, and Danny was enamored. 

She covered her mouth as the small exhale of breath left her mouth,"Will do. You coming to the party tomorrow too?"

"Yeah." Party? What fucking party? Danny nodded and placed his hands in his pockets,"I'll see you then, Y/N. Sleep tight." Before he turned on his heel to leave, he beamed at Y/N with a small head nod. She was now behind him and he had already missed her. 

"Bye Dan! Get home safe!" She raised her voice so he could hear her.

Dan didn't know why, but hearing her say that made him feel as if she were touching him again. The warmth dispersed throughout him once more. 

He waved without turning around to face her, because if he did face her, he would see her and never leave.

It took a good 15 minutes for the Uber to drive to Dan's house, but the whole time, no matter how many times Dan had banged his head against the car window, he couldn't get Y/N out of his head. He couldn't believe he actually asked her where she was sleeping tonight, a phrase one would use in a flirty, one night stand manner. He was embarrassed for half a second but realized that she had played along with it. It wasn't a big deal..just a nice, fun little conversation between the two of them. Dan found himself smiling just thinking about it.

He was still smiling up until he got to the front door of his house. Once he was inside, he was frowning. He started mumbling,"You are a fucking idiot..what the hell is wrong with you? What am I feeling right now?" He shut the door behind him and locked it, staring at his bedroom that was down the hall, straight ahead. "Maybe I just need sleep.." He tried assuring himself.

It didn't work, because by the time Danny got to the hall and popped his shoes off, he was already back on the subject of Y/N.

"She's just so..wonderful..and gorgeous...and.." He stopped himself, he needed to take his mind of off this new intern girl. Dan skid on his wooden floor until he hit his carpetted bedroom. 

Dan started stripping his clothes off after turning the light switch on and gazed at his bed after doing so.

"Hmm.." He hummed, still in his underwear with the lights on. He glanced at his phone that was laying on his jacket, on his bed. He observed it, picked it up, turned it on, and unlocked it.

"Should I J.O tonight?" He uttered to himself, and to his phone. He went to his browser and grinned widely at the screen,"Yeah..I'll J.O tonight."


	4. Pre-Party

You know how you kept thinking it was all a dream? Well, here was the decider. You just needed to wake up. Open your eyes..check your surroundings. What do you hear? What do you see?

As slow as a butterfly opening its wings for the first time, you opened up your eyes halfway, then fully. You vision was blurred at first from sleep, but you regained it after a few seconds. 

This wasn't your room. This wasn't your bed...this could only mean one thing.

"Hey Y/N, you up?" Ross O' Donovan knocked on the door. Ross O' Donovan knocked on the door..

It was all real, thank god.

"Yeah! I'm up." You croaked, probably sounding dead.

"I'm really sorry to wake you up, you can go back to sleep for awhile if you like."

Looking around, you sat up. You could just feel how messy your hair was already. You tapped your phone that was on the end table. It was 10 o clock in the morning.

"Oh, no Ross it's alright. Shit, I've already slept my day away." 

As you gathered up enough strength to get out of bed, Ross laughed from behind the door,"I wish I had that outlook in the morning. Anyway, once you get ready I'll meet you in my office. Bring your tablet alright?"

"Roger that!" You obediently answered and stood by the bed as you heard Ross's departing footsteps. You continued to stand there and think, rubbing your eyes, nose, and hair. You could've used a shower, but you didn't think there were any showers in the Grumps office. Great, you were gonna smell all day, and probably have to go to a YMCA to shower. That was one of the downsides of not having an apartment.

"Better draw good shit so I can not smell like trash.." You mumbled to yourself, and kneeled down to grab normal clothes. A tiny yawn left your mouth, but you had to shake it off and wake yourself up if you were gonna earn that dough and get clean.

You decided on putting a sweatshirt on with some jeans. You were saving your flannel for the party tonight. The party that would be filled with strangers, and god knows what else. It excited you though. You were gonna hang out with some of you role models. You couldn't drink, obviously, but you knew Suzy and Arin didn't drink often either, so you could drift towards them at a later point in the party. Those thoughts made you feel safer about the coming evening.

When you reached Ross's office, you knocked to make sure it was okay to come in, and it was, hence his open door. Ross was working on his animated show; Game-O-Verse, which you knew he was working on for the longest time. Were you actually going to help him with it??

You saw screens of story boarding images and on another screen were audio files. When you entered Ross glanced at you but remained staring at his work on his 3 screened set up,"I need your help. I have a deadline for other things for Game-O-Verse, and the thing thats tripping me up right now is lip syncing. You think you can do that Y/N?" He asked, spinning around in his chair to make eye contact. He put on a more serious air, like a businessman or a boss trusting the rookie employee with something risky.

You were confident though, you had lip synced a few times before,"You want a full lip sync? Or just open mouths?"

Ross bit down on his thumb tensely in thought, then looked back up at you,"Do open mouths for now, so I can see how you do. If you do good, I'll have you do a full lip sync."

"Perfect. I'll get right on that, boss." You addressed him formally.

Ross chuckled but waved you off, "I'll send you an email in a bit. Grab yourself some breakfast from the kitchen or something alright? You're probably starving."

"Thanks Ross." You smiled as you exited his office and made your way back to the good old kitchen. Thing was, what was in here for you to eat for breakfast?

\--------------------------------------------------

(Dan's house: 12 P.M)

"Mmmm.."

"Dan."

"Mmmm..give me a second baby girl..I'll be there in a bit."

"Dan?"

"Y/N..you're a...mmff...already wanna go..second..round.."

"Umm.."

"Come here..give Daddy..some.."

"Dan!"

"Hmm?" Dan painfully opened his eyelids to see Brian staring right at him.

"Jesus Christ Brian.." He let out a heavy and annoyed exhale, folding his arm over his eyes to cover them.

"Sorry to interrupt your wet dream, but you missed our meeting." Brian crossed his arms, ashamed at his band mate. He looked down at him like a disapproving father.

Danny groaned out loud, he could feel the very tight and uncomfortable feeling aching below his belly. Couldn't do a thing about it now. He snuck a peek at Brian who was now turning on the lights to his room,"Meeting?" He tried to wake himself up a little by rubbing his tired and heavy eyes.

"Yes, Danny. Our meeting. We're supposed to decide on which songs to cover for the next cover album. Did you drink last night or something?"

"Fuck you." Danny grumbled and rolled over on his side.

Brian said nothing but shook his head instead. He waited in the same spot where he crossed his arms again. Danny knew he would stand there for hours if he had to. Brian was such a fucking dick hole.

"Okay, okay. Can I fucking shower first, Brian?" Dan glared one tired eye up at his friend while the other eye was smooshed against the pillow.

With uncrossed arms, Brian raised his arms in defense,"Alright. But be sure to wash your dick after you jizz."

"Ouuutttttttt!" Danny growled while Brian walked silently away. Danny knew he was fucking grinning and enjoying this.

Once Dan heard Brian exit and shut the door, he pushed himself up off of the bed. He blinked a few times to try and get the sleep out of them, but it was hard. He had such a good J.O session last night. 

A small vibration of his phone made Dan turn his head towards the direction of the sound. The phone was tangled up in his blankets, so he fumbled to get it out. 

He muttered with a deep, sleepy tone,"Two missed calls from Brian..a few texts from Arin..shit." He missed he and Arin's workout. It was alright though, because by the looks of the messages, Arin didn't go either.

As Danny grabbed a few clothes from his dresser, he winced. It only took him a minute to remember. He had only forgotten about you for a second, yet here he was, about to shower and jerk off while thinking of you.

"God, I'm disgusting." 

He shook his own head and dragged his feet over to his master bathroom, and that was when he remembered something else. A sleepy, blurry haze of laughter, heat, and moaning. Flashes of Y/N and what he pictured her body to be like, perfect, and under him. Or on top of him. Whichever she preferred.

"Oh my god, Danny.." He grabbed at his curls in frustration. His head was swarming with all types of inappropriate things involving Y/N..and he felt like he couldn't control it. He had a small heart attack because for a split second he thought that was all real, but he knew it wasn't. It comforted him and depressed him at the same time. If it was real, he would've woken up to her this morning.

The thought of seeing her in his bed, sunlight shining on her body as the sunset turned into a sunrise warmed his heart. Or maybe it was the hot water that was hitting him now. He let the steam and water hit his face and wash away all of the aching tiredness. Well, there was one ache still remaining, but he would take care of that later.

\--------------------------------------

(The Grump Space, 6 o clock, 2 hours before the party.)

You were about to kill something if your tablet wouldn't stop freezing. All day you had lip synced scenes from Ross's show and he said he was satisfied with it, so he had you fully sync it. Moving the mouths centimeter was so aggravating and tedious..but that was animation. And you loved working through it all and seeing the beautiful final product.

Suzy popped her head into your office around 6:30, almost scaring the shit out of you.

"Wow.." Suzy said when she saw how focused you were and how caught off guard you were at her appearance,"Have you been working for Ross all day Y/N?"

You sighed,"Yes. Sorry I jumped..I just.."

"You know the party is in a few hours right?" More of her body appeared in the doorway. She was dressed casually in a t shirt and jeans. Her makeup was on point as always.

"Party?" You blinked,"Shit." You totally forgot about it..and to shower! "Oh my god, I need to shower." Urgently, you put your tablet aside and stood up, grabbing your bag of clothes from your desk.

"Y/N..would you wanna shower at my house?" Suzy asked, looking sadly at you with a smile. She probably felt bad for you.

"What?" You were still dazed, and that question made your condition worse. After you took in what she said you shook your head,"Oh..Suzy..I couldn't ask that of you, I mean.."

"It's just a shower. And you and I can have some girl time after."

"That sounds kinky." A male passerby remarked.

"Shut up Matt." Suzy playfully glared in his direction.

You leaned over to catch a glimpse of Matt, who you hadn't met personally. He was already gone though by the time you leaned out of the doorway. 

Suzy touched your shoulder, causing you to turn to her. This girl looked sincerely into your eyes, and the tone in her voice was gentle,"Really, Y/N. Shower at my place. Its not a huge deal, alright? Holly and I can drive you back over here in time for the party."

"Holly?"

"Yeah." Suzy beamed, sliding her hand off of you,"You haven't met her yet either. This partys gonna be so sweet!" She was clearly ecstatic. This meant a lot to her..how could you say no? You also were afraid that you smelled like rotten broccolli, so there wasn't really a downside to going to Suzy and Arin's house.

"Alright. If you insist." 

"Great! C'mon, let's go!" Out of the blue, Suzy took your hand and hauled you off outside and into her car. You barely had enough time to reply to her she went so fast. 

After you talked a bit within Suzy's car, she parked 5 minutes later by a nice looking house with a wooden and brick foundation. It was beautiful, and slightly gothic in its own way. It definitely suited Suzy. You had heard of all of her taxidermy and oddities inside, and you prepared to bear witness to all of it.

"Make yourself at home, I'll show you where the shower is."

"Thank you again, Suzy."

"Arin should be home soon, but you'll be ready by then." She said as he led you out of the foyer and down a hallway where a few doors were on either side. You followed behind her while trying to keep up with all of the stuffed, used to be alive, animals that hung on the wall.

"Guest bathroom is right down here. You got clothes right?" Suzy gestured to the 2nd door on the left of the hall and opened the door for you.

You answered with a weak attempted lift of your backpack where you stuffed in an outfit for the party.

"What about makeup? And a curling iron?" Suzy was getting more and moer excited about this. Her smile just kept getting bigger the more she talked. It made you happy that you were making her happy too.

"It's all in here too."

"Perfect! She clapped and rushed you inside of the bathroom,"Go on and shower then! Let me know when you're done and we'll get you all dolled up! Ooooh!" She squealed and gave you a thumbs up once you were inside the bathroom, then left. You shut the door for her as she was too carried away with dressing you up.

You undressed slowly and glanced your figure in the mirror before you. It was rimmed with gold looking symbols, and the glass was almost spotless. When you were in your underwear, you looked yourself up and down. As expected, you were still not pleased with how you looked. Your prime was when you were 17 and still in high school. Now, you were 20 and in the adult world, filled with freedom and junk food.

Determined to shake your body issues away, you became naked and walked to the shower with confidence, drawing the curtains back. The shower was thankfully filled with the necessities. You found yourself drawn to the shower head, and how it was designed. It had the same golden embroidery as the mirror.

"Hmm." You said to yourself, intrigued. 

With a small gesture, you turned the shower on and waited for hot water to come pouring out. Ready for the boiling hot water, you stepped into the shower and closed your eyes. You let the warmth and the steam envelope you in a comforting cloud. It felt so damn good. The water pounded all of the right spots and it was just the right kind of scalding hot. 

Your mind started running through situations that were likely at the party; like you meeting Holly, and talking to her about birds. You ran through a situation where you met up and talked with Matt, who--as far as you knew--was the closest Grump to your age. Hopefully you could get some closure, advice and assurance from him.

Then, you started picturing Danny. In your head, you saw him beaming. He had such a big, contagious smile. He was singing at a small little karaoke station that you doubted the Grumps actually had, but in your imagination, they did. 

He was singing his heart out, owning the small stage like it was his own. He was bouncing and grooving to whatever 80s song he had picked out. Then you conjured up a scene where he was singing and staring right at you. His attractive mouth moved to emit words that his beautiful voice could make, all while locking a gaze with you. It was like he was sharing it all with you, only you. Those dark, brown eyes of that dark, tall, and handsome man burned into your soul, and spoke nearly a million words. You were at a loss of words in your little daydream. You were so enraptured with his performance, how could anyone not be? This was really what he was meant for, you thought. To be onstage.

"Ow.." You cursed as you allowed shampoo to drip fro your forehead and into your eyes. The substance burned and it took all of your power not to rub at it.

"Ow..ow..ow.."


	5. The Not Pre-Party

The skirt you were wearing was short, cute, and flared, but not too short of course. You wanted to be presentable. You really thought about just settling for skinny jeans and a flannel, but a few more seconds in the shower had you thinking, and you changed your mind into something a bit more formal. Your outfit wasn't totally formal though. For a top, you wore the cutest sweater that hung off your shoulders. You wore a bra, of course, but so they remained invisible, you slid them down under the sleeves of the sweater.

Once you were dressed, Suzy was alerted, and in no less then 5 seconds she was in there with you, fawning over you and your outfit.

"Oh my gosh! Girl you are looking hot!" She whistled and pretended to fan herself.

You stood there barefoot before her, with wet but brushed hair,"Make me look even hotter, Suz." You tried the nickname.

Suzy gladly nodded and proceeded to run back and forth from her bathroom, presumably the master bath, and back into yours. She dropped off some hair styling tools as well as a ton of makeup equipment. You felt like you were in one of those makeover shows, and watched Suzy in awe of her enthusiasm, and of how much makeup she owned. Well, you weren't really surprised, but to actually see all of it in person was..pleasantly shocking.

"Okay Y/N. Sit down and let me get a look at you." She reached for her hair dryer and stood over you with an observing stare. You felt her look over your eyes, brow, hair and cheeks. It wasn't unnerving in the least.

She had ended up blow drying you hair, and making it more voluminous by the time it was dry. You were sitting down on the toilet while Suzy was doing this. When you heard the front door open, a small fluff ball of grey fur flew by the bathroom door to greet whoever made the front door sound.

"Arin?" Suzy called out as she carefully applied eye shadow to your eyelids.

"That's meeeee." Arin replied in a kiddish way.

You and Suzy shared a laugh, but you made sure not to move much,"I'm almost done." She said to you, then turned her voice towards the door,"Hey, Arin. Can you check the casserole in the oven?"

"Casserole?" You whispered curiously.

"Yeah babe! No problem!" He replied quickly, and shortly after you could make out a few meows and what could only be Arin's cooing in response.

Please, Suzy turned her full attention to you, eye shadow brush still in hand,"I'm bringing a casserole to the party. We're all supposed to bring something. It's gonna be so fucking rad." She glimpsed your somewhat confused expression and quickly corrected herself,"Oh! But its no big deal that you didn't make anything. Promise."

"Not like I have a place to cook anyway." You teased, one eye closed so Suzy could do her work.

After a few moments, Suzy was done with your eye shadow, and was now ready to apply your mascara. She was kneeling by you close enough you could smell her perfume. It smelled awesome. That must've been the scent name, because you had no idea what to call it, but it smelled awesome.

"I think I might have to talk to Arin and see if he'd be okay with letting you stay at our place until you can get your own."

God, why did everyone have to be so damn cool and nice?

"Oh my god, Suzy..I couldn't ask that of you and Arin.." You humbly rejected the idea with one eye closed.

Suzy brushed up your eyelashes with kindness and care,"You're really sweet, but it wouldn't be too big of a deal Y/N."

"God, you all are so nice." You breathed a laugh as a smile crept onto your face,"Dan asks me if I have a place to sleep tonight, now you're insisting I stay with you and your husband."

You saw Suzy beam down at you and pause her brushing,"It's all cause we care about you. You're super fucking cool Y/N. We want you comfortable working with us, ya know?"

"Thanks Suz."

A few more minutes pass and Suzy announced that she was done.

"All finished! Go on! Take a look!" She ceremoniously stepped away from you and gestured for you to come on up and look at yourself in the reflection.

When you did, your jaw dropped.

Normally, you'd rate yourself a solid 6 on a good day, but Suzy easily made you look like a fucking 11.

"Holy shit Suzy.." You cursed quietly, touching your hair that was parted more than halfway to one side, giving it a cool and rough uneven look.

She came up to you an placed both hands on one of your shoulders, leaning in to put her face by yours,"Do you like it? What do you think?"

"I look fucking rad as shit!" You exclaimed, glancing at her with a huge smile. You looked back again at yourself in disbelief. She outlined your eyes with winged eyeliner, not too much, but enough for your eyes to be an attention grabber.

"Hell yeah you do!" She giggled along with you.

You couldn't tear yourself away from the mirror, it felt good to look like this. It felt good to look at yourself, knowing that you looked like this.

"Now.." Suzy started, pulling away from you. She pointed at your still bare feet,"Do you have shoes?"

Of course, how could you forget?

"Oh..yeah I do." A little embarrassed, you leaned down to grab your bag, earning a laugh from Suzy.

"I'm glad, Cinderella."

\------------------------------------------

(The Grump Space; around 8:30)

He was just sitting in his car..why was he just sitting in his car?! The party was supposed to start a half hour ago..then again, it was cool to be fashionably late, right?

Dan wasn't too worried about being late, more than likely at least 4 people were there right now. Everyone wouldn't be there until 9 or 9:30.

He turned his gaze from his steering wheel to the dish he made a few minutes before he actually got into the car. The small canister of chips and dip was cold on his lap, but the temperature didn't cool his boiling body temperature in any way.

The moment Brian had reminded him of the party, Dan instantly pictured Y/N and when she asked:

"See you at the party tomorrow?"

To which he idiotically replied,"Yeah."

Dan sighed very, very heavily. Maybe Barry would be there tonight. He missed him a lot sometimes. He could focus more on him instead of Y/N.

Not that he wanted to avoid her. Hell, he definitely would talk to her tonight. It would eb rude if he didn't. It was just..after thinking for awhile, Dan believed it would be best if he thought about his feelings and not be alone with her until he had his dumb brain figured out.

Yeah, that sounded smart and deep Dan.

After a sharp inhale, Dan pulled his keys from the slot and shoved them in his jacket pocket. He picked up the wine that sat in his passenger seat, and with the chips and dip in his hand, Dan was on his way inside the Grump Space.

Brian greeted him once he was downstairs and passing everybody's cubicles. He could hear a small bass vibrating the whole downstairs, and no one singing on the karaoke machine.

Brian was dressed in a nice button up shirt with a paper cup in one hand,"Dan. You're late."

"Wow. It's like I've already heard that today from you."

Brian was not amused and followed him into the rec room where everyone seemed to be,"I almost expected you not to come."

"Why's that?" As Dan waved at passersby he knew, he turned his head to Brian.

"Because of the talk you and I had. You thought it would be best if you sit alone with your thoughts for awhile."

"Shut up Brian.." Dan placed his dish and wine up on the counter of the Grumps kitchen,"You're not my psychiatrist."

"Yet, I have a P.H.D"

Dan and Brian both chuckled at that.

Brian could see his friend was feeling troubled. He watched him stare longingly at the bottle of wine that he brought, tracing the letters of the brand with his thumb.

"Just take it easy Dan, okay?" Brian smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Chill out buddy." He advised, then turned to go back into the rec room and into the very middle of the party.

"Yeah.." Dan muttered, a little too late for Brian to hear.

She was just a girl. Dan's slept with handful of women. He wouldn't classify himself as a womanizer, but he did admit that he was a flirt sometimes. Everyone likes boobs and sex. Maybe this really was nothing. Maybe Dan was too eager to love again. Maybe he was getting all drooly over a young, hot girl for nothing. Hell, she probably already had a boyfriend back home!

Dan's pulse started racing so he took a deep, slow breath and moved over to the cabinets within the kitchen to look for a bottle opener.

Footsteps made Dan divert his attention to behind his shoulder. He saw Suzy and Arin, and waved at them,"Hey guys!"

"Wassup bud?" Arin smiled back and drifted away from Suzy.

"Not much..just looking for the bottle opener."

"Oh!" Suzy popped up and ran right over to Dan, opening a cabinet that was right next to him,"It's in this cabinet."

Of course. Dan smiled weakly at her,"Oh. Right. Here we are." Once he spotted it, he took it in one hand and closed the cabinet with the other.

Suzy patted his head,"It's okay Dan."

"Thanks, Suz." Dan nodded at her and took in her outfit. It was definitely a Suzy outfit. She had black cat stockings and a black dress to match, with pretty white lace that outline the bottom of it and the top. She wore long, black, finger-less gloves to accessorize.

He looked over to Arin, who didn't dress up as drastically as Suzy. He was wearing a sweatshirt with those "not jeans" he always wore. His hair was up in a bun, and it gave Dan the urge to put his hair up as well.

"What kind of wine did you bring?"

"You know," Dan winked at his friend and proceeded to use the bottle opener,"The usual."

"You mind pouring me one, bartender?"

"Arin, you don't drink."

"Wow Dan. It's like you know me or something." Arin said, jokingly facetious.

The two giggled and Dan rolled his eyes. He was applying a bit more pressure until he heard a small 'pop', and twisted the cork out of the bottle.

"Mozletov!!" Arin raised his arms and yelled. He and Suzy clapped as Dan bowed.

"Thank you..thank you."

"Get it? Cuz Dan's Jewish?" He shined a bright smile Suzy's way and nudged Dan with his shoulder.

Suzy wasn't having it and strolled off away from her silly husband.

Dan looked at his big cat who was fake pouting. And he comforted him by patting his shoulder in a pretty masculine way,"It's okay buddy..I think you're funny."

Arin started to blubber and change his voice so it sounded like he was crying,"T-Thanks Dan..you know you're always t-there for me.." He threw himself onto Dan and started to 'cry'.

"Aww.." Dan held him and closed his eyes as he slapped Arin's back, almost as if he was burping a baby. A very big baby.

More footsteps made Dan open his eyes, and he prayed to God that Arin wasn't that close to his junk.

A stunningly beautiful young woman stepped into the kitchen with Holly in tow. It was Y/N. She looked different but he still recognized her. For lack of a better word she was...hot. Gorgeous. Truly a beautiful specimen of the female gender.

Way to sound misogynistic, Dan.

While Arin was still weeping, Dan muttered under his breath,"Of course she's wearing a skirt."

Confused, Arin looked up at Dan and said, not in a blubbery voice,"What?" He followed Dan's line of vision and stood straight up. He waved at Holly and Y/N who hadn't noticed the guys until now.

Holly grinned at the two of them as she picked up a wine bottle,"Oh! Hey guys! How's it going?" Y/N had waved at the two of them enthusiastically. Her lipstick painted lips spread apart as she smiled. Dan had a really hard time not just fainting right there.

"Good." Arin glanced at Dan who was still locking eyes with Y/N. He had half a mind to let him sit there with his mouth open, but he decided against that. He hit Dan softly in the chest and thankfully knocked him out of his daze. Temporarily.

"Yeah! Good.." Dan nodded and itched the spot where Arin had hit him, smiling at both Arin and Holly. And Y/N.

Holly poured herself and Y/N cups of wine,"Awesome! You guys have met Y/N right?" She jerked her head to Y/N who was beside her.

Arin gave up at this point. He greeted Y/N with a small nod,"Yeah. Of course."

"Yeah." Somehow Dan managed to control himself and appeared normal. Arin watched in astonishment as his love struck friend addressed them,"We met her yesterday."

Jesus, just saying that made Dan's head spin. He realized he had just met her yesterday, and he had such a passion for Y/N. It made him feel even more crazy.

"You ladies look very lovely this evening, by the way." Dan nodded at the two of them with a very charming grin.

He watched Y/N change her body language from open and friendly, to shy and flustered. She was still smiling though and making eye contact. She had just crossed her arms and began to mess with her hair.

Holly giggled and thanked him,"Well thank you Danny. You two look handsome yourselves." She tilted her glass at Danny and Arin before taking a sip.

Dan watched as Y/N took a sip. He was a little confused, since he remembered someone saying that she wasn't quite 21 yet, but she seemed to enjoy the wine. He hoped Holly wasn't pressuring her or anything. He didn't think she would do a thing like that though, but the thought ended up crawling into his mind.

"Well, we'll see you around guys!" Holly started walking off while taking a swig of wine and Y/N followed after her like a baby chick.

While she was walking behind Holly, Y/N turned back only to wave at the two Grumps. Dan and her locked eye in particular, and her gaze seemed to linger on him, but Dan thought he was dreaming anyway.

"Hmm." Arin crossed his arms and looked out to where Holly and Y/N walked out,"She and Holly seem to be hitting it off. Huh Dan?"

Dan broke down and turned to Arin, fists clenched,"ARIN SHE'S A BEAUTIFUL FUCKING BABE!" He imitated Arin from earlier and started 'sobbing' into his friend's shoulder.

He stuffed himself into his friend and let out his frustration somewhat. Arin smiled sadly down at him. He kinda felt bad for him. Then again, he kinda didn't. He patted his back nonetheless.

"It's alright buddy. Don't worry..its all gonna be okay."


	6. Africa

Barry hadn't come yet, which kinda depressed Dan. He might text him later, see how hes doing. Ever since his little 'episode' with Arin in the kitchen, he was chatting up Matt while eating a small bowl of trail mix.

Matt hadn't been introduced to Y/N yet. Dan wasn't sure if he felt more comfortable talking to him about her or less.

"She's pretty hot, honestly." Matt had a girlfriend, but he was often a blunt guy.

"Fucking tell me about it.." Danny contained himself and glanced Y/N from across the room. He nervously munched on the pretzels of the mix.

"Why don't you go talk to her then?" Matt asked, holding a cup of beer.

"I.." Dan hesitated,"I..I've talked to her before. Talking to her isn't a problem, Matt. It's just..I don't know what I'm feeling for her yet. I think its just a crush." 

If it was crush, it was a huge one. He would've gotten over it by now. Or at least the effects would've been lessened. God damn, was he really crazy.

"Could be. I'd say give it time man."

"That's what everyone else is saying." Dan leaned up against a support pole that held up the first floor. He didn't realize it until Matt said something, but he found himself looking at Y/N as she was drinking, laughing and having fun with Suzy and Holly. She was so pretty when she was happy. He could feel her positive energy from here.

"Dude.." Matt interrupted him,"Stop staring. You're creeping me out, and if she catches you staring, she'll probably be creeped out too."

"Oh!" Dan whirled his head back to Matt, who was a little concerned but meant his comment in a playful way,"Shit..you're right. Sorry." Dan frowned and took a handful of the mix, raisins in all.

"Man, when's the last time you got laid?" Matt was messing with him now, grinning slyly as he sipped his beer.

Dan rolled his eyes, swallowing his snack,"That's kinda Dan Avidan confidential information, Matthew."

"Why? Has it been that long?"

It wasn't the fact that it had been a long time..or it hadn't. Or even the fact that Matt was asking a personal question. Matt was fun to fuck with and Dan considered him a friend, he just really did not want to answer this question right now.

"No. I mean.." Dan groaned lowly, looking anywhere other than at Matt. He grumpily stuffed a few more cashews into his mouth.

Matt was almost wheezing with laughter,"I'm just teasing you dude, you don't have to answer. You just seem stressed is all."

"Sounds like I really just need to fucking chill then.." He said out loud, more to himself than to Matt or anyone else. He looked at the floor for a second, then switched to Matt,"Hey. Matt."

"Yes Dan?" Matt arched an eyebrow while bringing his cup to his lips.

"Wanna play some beer pong?"

Matt's smirk was long and mischievous,"Oh you just asked the wrong person Danny boy.."

\-------------------------------------------------------

"Holly, please. I have to come over and see all of the pigeons."

"Yeah, yeah! Of course!" Holly slid her phone into her pocket after showing you just a few of her bird babies. "They'd love to have you visit. They're a little wary of strangers, but if you have food, they'll instantly love you."

"Alright," You laughed and took a small sip of the wine Holly had poured you. A small, underlying thought had filled your head about being drugged and drinking something you didn't know what it was, but you figured it was just your mother nagging inside your head. Besides, everyone was really genuine and nice, and Holly didn't pressure you into drinking, and she even told you what kind of wine it was. You even watched her pour it. She was drinking it also, so you didn't have a care in the world at the moment.

The background music of the party switched from pop music to Ninja Sex Party, you recognized. It was Orgy For One. T most recent of Dan and Brian's music. You knew it pretty well though already, so you started humming with a cheeky smile on your face.

"Y/N!" You heard Suzy's voice from a little ways to your left,"There you are. I wanted you to meet more people from the office. This is one of the animators for Dream Daddy."

"Hey." You smiled at them,"I'm Y/N." You introduced yourself and they did the same.

You were about to ask how it was working on Dream Daddy when a blonde young man ran up to you. You looked to see it was Matt, with contacts on and clearly a little drunk.

"Hi. I'm Matt." He smiled at you and held out his hand. You glanced at it then decided to shake it. You were slightly amused at the sight of this man.

"Hey Matt. I'm Y/N. Sorry I didn't meet with you yesterday. I met with Ryan though."

He laughed and tilted his head back, snorting just slightly,"You're super pretty."

"Oh.." That caught you off guard a little bit. You looked to Suzy for guidance but she only shrugged. "Umm.."

"I have a girlfriend though. But I just wanted you to know that."

"Uh..thank you Matt."

Suzy stepped in and leaned in to observe him, to get a little whiff of his breath,"Matt." She found herself chuckling to herself,"Are you okay?"

"Oh.." Matt paused and looked back at you. He started grinning widely all of a sudden,"And Danny..Danny.." He started giggling,"He..Dan.."

"Dan?" You and Suzy said simultaneously, curious to figure this all out.

"Yeah. He challenged me to beer pong..and," He started slurring,"I waskinda an assholeand I egged him on..he.. won."

"I can see that." Suzy said, looking Matt and his drunken self over,"Here, Matt." She held her arms out towards him so he could lean on her,"Let's sit down over here, okay?" Suzy made an exasperated face to you as she led Matt to the other side of the room. All you could do is shrug and make a 'i don't even know' smile.

The speakers that the music was hooked up to squeaked with some feedback, but it was quickly corrected. You wondered what was happening, but you couldn't see anything that would indicate that the speakers were being messed with. No one around you seemed perturbed either, so you went back to sipping the wine. You gradually felt your stomach warm and churn up with the alcohol. It felt great. You felt lighter, but not drunk or inebriated. It was a good level to stop at. Then again, you were just gonna sleep here tonight..

"Hey guys!"

A microphoned voice now took over the speakers, and it only took a few more words for you to recognize it.

"I figured that this party would be alright to try out the karaoke machine that we got. So..uh..without further ado I'm gonna sing."

You kept looking around to see where Danny was, and you found him in the corner located at the end of the room, where the speakers were stationed.

What do ya know..shower thoughts are real, huh?

"If you know it, sing along with me. And whoever wants a go at this next can come up, alright?"

"WOOOOOOOO. DAN!!!"

"DANNY I LOVE YOUUUU!!!"

The girlish squeals and shrieks belonged to Matt and Arin. One of which who was drunk, and the other was completely sober. Arin was the more outgoing one. He even went up to Dan, jumping and screaming about.

"DAN I WANT YOU TO FATHER MY CHILDREN!!"

You caught Dan cracking up away from the mic and motioned for Arin to go away. His smile was so wide,just like you pictured whenever the two had big laughing fits during Game Grumps.

"Arin. Shut the fuck up and go away, I'm trying to sing here."

People started chattering and laughing as they watched the two idiots. Ryan ended up having to play as Dan's bodyguard and pull Arin off to the side, much to his dismay. Arin was still fan girling over him as the music to Africa started to play through the speakers. It was the Ninja Sex Party's cover.

The drums started to play and a few people were already cheering. The lights were dimmed ever so slightly as Dan acted out while he sang. He added the little laugh in the beginning of the track that you knew was in there. This was when you were witnessing the first moments of Danny's stage presence. He really did look like he belonged up there, in the spotlight. You caught yourself staring at him, dressed in his leather jacket and a different T shirt, and a crazy fro living on his head. He looked wild, and beautiful. You were so ready to hear his singing voice live and in person.

"I hear the drums echoing tonight..but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation.."

"Shes coming in 12:30 flight. The moonlight beams reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation.."

Danny had his eyes closed during the first few verses, but a little more towards the chorus, he had opened them and started looking out past the light and into the crowd of people

"I stopped an old man along the way, hoping to find some old forgotten words..or ancient melodies.."

"He turned to me as if to say.."hurry boy its waiting there for you.""

You could hear the power slowly rising up into Danny's voice, it was so pleasurable to hear. You took another small sip of wine before the chorus. You were so ready for him to just scream, because honestly you scream the chorus to this song too. Who doesn't?

Your heart stopped for a few seconds when you physically felt Dan's eyes lock on yours. He couldn't have been looking right at you. The lights were too dark to see you. Right?

"Its gonna take a lot to drive me away from youuu.."

"There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do.."

He was definitely looking at you. He was dancing anmoving his legs and body to the groove of the rhythm, and he was looking at you. You felt like he was a magnet, like he was pulling you in. You needed to be closer. He was reeling you in like a fish on a hook.

"I bless the rains down in Africa.."

He was looking away now, closing his eyes and taking a breath for the next verse. He might've been looking at you, but he was only doing so because that's what people do..right? They look at people when they're the center of attention or performing for them.

You continued to gaze in awe of Danny and sip the wine until you found that it was empty. You wanted more, so you waited and watched as Dan was finishing up. On your way to the kitchen, people were already cheering and clapping, even singing along with him. You felt proud of him. He wasn't your son and you weren't related to him by any means. You only knew who he was 4 years ago..but you were still proud of him. You knew his backstory, and he had come a long way. You were proud of him.

\--------------------------------------------

"You should've let me up there Dan, I would've laid down some tasty jams."

Danny waved at his friend as he was being jostled around, an arm around his shoulder,"Arin, I didn't stop you. You still can."

"Yeah, but now Vernon's singing some stupid pop song."

"Oh my god, is he?" Dan looked in the direction of the karaoke machine. He did in fact see Vernon, clearly a little tipsy but nonetheless enjoying himself. The sight made him laugh.

"I kind of want him to start singing some old country song." Arin grinned, an arm still around Dan. He took a drink of his La Croix water.

"I would pay good money for that man to belt out some George Strait."

"Or some Reba..that would be the fucking best."

Dan and Arin shared a laugh and both tilted their heads back at the same time to satisfy their thirsts.

When Dan put his head back into its normal position, he happened to glance at the spot Y/N was before. She wasn't standing by the table in between two groups of people and surrounded by Suzy and Holly. She was a little ways away, swaying with a cup in her hand while chatting up Matt and Ryan, who were also looking a little drunk. There were loud laughs coming from their direction. Knowing Matt and Ryan, Danny still felt a burning sensation disperse through his whole body.

"Arin.." He started,"I'll be back in a bit."

Danny felt like he was out of control of himself, like he wasn't the one actually walking out of his friend's arm towards a girl he somehow cared about and met just yesterday. She was drunk, and hopefully alright.

By the time he had gotten halfway across the room, Y/N had spotted him and made her own way over to chat with him. If he could sweat, Danny would be sweating. He would be sweating hardcore.

Her smile was as wide as he had ever seen it, and while she was walking, droplets of her beverage were dripping out of her cup. Jesus Christ she was drunk.

"Hi Dannyyy!" Y/N slurred and giggled like a little school girl.

Danny felt awful that he was even getting a slight erection right now.

"Hey, Y/N..how are you?" He asked as they got closer, then finally met.

Y/N hummed with pleasure and out of nowhere, she decided to plant herself onto Dan's chest, leaning on him 100% and catching him totally off guard.

Dan could've cried out of happiness right then.

"I..Y/N?" He stared down at the top of her head that was barely brushing his chin.

The hot and messy intern girl that Dan was now holding (not quite) giggled once more,"You know Danny..you're really fucking nice.."

"Uh.." To say Dan was at a loss for words was an understatement. He didn't even know what to do with his body or brain, let alone his mouth. He sensed Y/N tilting slightly away from him and she began to slip, but on instinct, Dan raised his arms and wrapped them around her to catch her. She let the cup she was holding fall to the ground, sadly yet happily, it was empty.

Y/N squealed with glee, head now turned upwards to gaze up at Dan,"Oopsies..I may be a little drunk."

"Yeah, I can see that.."

Dan was absolutely going insane with how everything just happened all at once. He had never been this close to Y/N before. Now he was holding her drunken toddler body while she was beaming at him. Her eyes sparkled with joy, it was almost contagious just sharing eye contact with her.

"Danny.." Her voice switched on a dime from happy and playful to somber and serious.

"What?" Dan asked, afraid of everything at the current moment. He was waiting for her comment with bated breath.

"You're a special widdle baby.." The sly smile returned to Y/N's face, and complimented her beating red cheeks.

"Jesus.." Danny whispered as she got herself into a fit of giggles while hiding in his chest. He'd never been so overstimulated in his life. His heart was pounding out of his chest and his ears. His head was feeling 10 pounds lighter, lips were dry, and he was still fucking 'sweating'.How was this fucking happening to him?

Then Y/N lifted her head up to say something else. A few strands of her hair were in her face, and Danny was more than tempted to brush them aside for her, but he repressed the action.

"And..I've always had the biggest crush on you." Y/N said while blinking up at him with vague innocence. Her lashes were thick and attractive, and they definitely were trying to pull Danny in closer. It was hard, but Danny backed his head away from hers, just for good measure. Her expression was enchanting, but Dan was holding on to every word of hers with all that he had.

"Like..you are the hottest 40 year old hunk of man I have ever seen."

Was she really saying this? Was he really hearing all of this? She couldn't mean all of that..she was drunk. She was just saying silly shit..right?

Dan decided to reflect her drunken compliment with a joke,"Well..uh..I'm not quite 40 yet.." He muttered. He dared to sinfully glance at Y/N's lips. They were pink and partially open, and more than welcoming to Danny. He continued to keep his distance.

If Dan was a person without morals, he would've taken her right then and there. He would've tossed her onto the bed or the couch and would've used tongue action like she had never seen before. But Dan had respect, so when Y/N inched her face closer to his, and lowered her voice to a more sultry level, he held his breath, and everything else. His arms were still around her after catching her, unconsciously, of course.

How he had this much self control, he didn't know.

Y/N started rubbing at Dan's chest, stroking it up and down as she muttered,"Lucky for you..I like my men a little...older." She emphasized the last word with a flicker of her eyes from Danny's toes and all the way up to his head.

Dan gulped.

Y/N looked like she was waiting for him to do something,"And you..I know you're an old dinosaur at heart..Danny Sexbang." Y/N leaned in closer but Danny stood as still as a statue, she wasn't leaning in for a kiss, she was going for much worse. She whispered in his ear,"You like that young pussy don't you?"

"Okay, okay.." Dan backed his head away from Y/N and gently took both of her wrists off of his chest, holding them,"Y/N..I think you've had enough to drink."

All of a sudden, Y/N started snickering to herself, cheeks still flaming red,"Danny, let's dance!" She moved away from him and took a second for herself to find the beat of the music. Vernon was no longer singing, and Ninja Sex Party's "You Spin Me Right Round" replaced the groove of the party.

Danny watched in awe of this gorgeous creature before him who suddenly started swaying her hips to the beat of a song that he was singing. Not only that, it was one of Danny's favorite songs about sex. Why the fuck was she making this so difficult?

"C'mon Danny.." She cooed, smirking while she ran a hand up her body and gracefully through her hair. She continued to circle her hips and forced Dan to look away,"Doesn't this song get you..in the mood?"

"Seriously..Y/N..let me get you some water, okay?" Dan glanced a the kitchen and motioned for her to follow.

She did not follow, but instead tripped a over her own feet and fell off balance of her heels. She was now flat on her ass laughing while some people caught attention and stared.

Danny frowned at her and looked at all of his co workers who were now looking at her, obliviously drunk and very vulnerable. He made a decision right then and there.

"Y/N.." She was still laughing while Dan knelt down beside her,"You're too fucking wasted.." She cheesed up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a little hug.

"I knoww!! Isn't it great?"

"No Y/N..its not great. You're gonna fucking hurt yourself."

"Y/N?" Suzy's voice came from behind Y/N, who was still embracing Danny.

"Suz!!" Y/N squealed and kept her arms around the Grump. She had squished her face against Dan's, much to his dismay. "How are yoouuu?"

"Is she okay?" Arin was beside his wife and looking down at Dan. He looked as concerned as Suzy, almost kneeling down with Dan.

Dan shook his head as he looked down at Y/N with pity. She was now burying her head on the inside of his jacket,"No. She's fucking wasted. I'm gonna take her home, so she can't hurt herself."

"Dan.." Suzy interjected,"We can take her to our place..really, its not a big deal.."

"Yeah man..let us take her." Arin held his arms out a little for Y/N to come to.

"No. I don't want you guys missing out on the party. Just let me take her to my place..please?"

Arin and Suzy both knew Dan well enough to know that he wasn't the type of guy to take advantage of a girl. Especially when she was drunk. When he said that he wanted to take Y/N to his home, they had no doubt whatsoever that he meant the best for her. He would let her sleep in his bed while he slept on the couch, and he would've made her coffee in the morning and provided her with whatever he needed for the inevitable hangover.

Dan pleaded and looked between his two friends, who shared worried expressions.

Arin spoke first and nodded,"Okay Dan..be careful, alright?"

Dan stood up with a protective arm around Y/N. She was still nuzzling into his shirt and humming to the song that was playing,"I will."

"Text us if you need help, and let us know what's going on." Suzy frowned at her new friend.

"I will Suz." He sent her a sad smile, then turned his gaze to Arin. The two shared a brotherly, telepathic conversation, and within a few more seconds of eye contact, the discussion was over. Dan jerked his head in a nod, then waved at the two of them,"Have a good night you guys."

"Be careful buddy!"

"Be careful!"

Danny then started his journey to his car with Y/N on his arm. Y/N was somewhat cooperative up until the stairs. He more or less had to carry her and keep her steady.

"Danny..where are we going?"

Man, she was worse than when Dan ever got high.

Without thinking, Dan said, "We're going to my house, sweetheart."

How did that fucking slip out?

When it did, Danny made a face to himself, as if to say,'what the fuck?'

"Oh.." Y/N was calmer now, leaning her head onto Danny's shoulder,"Okay.."

Dan smiled a satisfied smile to himself and helped Y/N up the rest of the stairs.

They were outside now, and a slight breeze was blowing onto them.

"But..Daannnn.." She whined,"What about the party?"

Dan spotted his car on the curb and pulled Y/N in that direction,"The party's over now Y/N. Everyone left." He lied.

"But..I was..having fun." She started yawning, bringing up memories of he and Y/N's first conversation.

"I know you were." He patronized her somewhat without meaning to, but he was still genuine towards her.

Once they reached Dan's car, Dan continued to be a gentleman and opened the passenger door for her with one hand. Carefully, he helped her step inside.

"Watch your step. Just sit right there okay?" He made sure she was sitting in the seat fully before he shut the door.

Dan made his way around to the driver seat and opened his door. With ease, he stepped inside and sat down.

While Dan was reaching for something in the back, Y/N mumbled,"Dan.." Her voice reached the same somber tone as a half hour ago. It was like she was continuing her statement from before.

After a few seconds of shuffling things around, Dan pulled out a quilted blanket from the backseat, and placed it around Y/N. He raised an eyebrow at her, even though her eyes were already drooping and full of sleep.

"I love you."

She had said it so simply...and yet Dan had heard all of the lovelies say that before. Y/N was a lovely..so she only meant it that way.

Dan didn't know what to say, so he shut up and tucked her into her seat. He was sure that her seat belt was on correctly, and then started his car.

The words still bounced around his head as well as their intent and meaning. He didn't love her, surely. He cared, obviously..but it wasn't love. It was a crush..Danny had realized that. What he was feeling was an attraction to a pretty girl. He cared about everyone, and he would do what he did for Y/N for anyone..but why did this feel so different from everyone else?

Dan wracked his brain on the way to his house, desperately searching for answers within himself. He made sure to turn the heat up for Y/N, and soon he was hearing her snore quietly from the passenger seat.


	7. Breakfast

"Damn Daniel."

"Shut the fuck up and get that sweet ass over here.." Dan purred.

"You don't even need to tell me twice.." Y/N stood in front of him, gorgeous in every way, and about to come into his bedroom. Dan had no idea how this even happened, but it was happening.

Once she was inside Danny's room she shut the door behind her while she walked, her hips swaying.

If Dan was able to sweat, he would've,"Why don't you take those clothes off for me?"

Y/N grinned wickedly, and stopped walking once she was in front of Dan who was sitting innocently at the edge of his bed, patiently waiting for her.

She did as Dan told her to, and slowly slipped her skirt off of her body, and wiggled out of it. Meanwhile, Dan was struggling to unbuckle his belt.

Y/N giggled as she was now pants less,"Someone's eager.." Her bottom half was now almost bare, and already she was crawling on top of Danny. She placed her hands on either side of him on the bed, and leaned forward, towards Danny's lips.

"Well..I.." Dan was cut off by her kiss. It was so damn soft, so gentle, with a hint of yearning behind it. "Mmmph.." Dan let out a very soft moan in the kiss and let Y/N straddle him onto the bed until he was laying flat on his back.

Dan could hardly believe it. This beautiful woman was making out with him, and probably wanted to do even more dirty things to him. He didn't want to stop kissing her. There was a constant tingle shooting through Dan's entire body when they kissed. He craved it, he wanted to become addicted to it. He loved it.

Dan was the first to push for tongue, and Y/N had let him. This got a moan out of her, and when Dan heard that glorious sound, he wanted to roll her over and take her all for himself.

"God.." Dan exhaled once Y/N had pulled away for breath, both of their lips parted after kissing and their eyes lowered in lust.

Y/N smirked at the older man, loving the affect she had on him. With both of her hands, she began to take off Dan's belt and unbutton his ripped blue jeans.

Dan raised his head in order to look down to see what she was doing. Shit, he could see his hard boner from here, surely she could feel it.

Fuck, if she touched it..

"Oh.." Dan let out a shaky breath as Y/N teased his clothed cock with the palm of her hand. Somehow she had gotten past Dan's jeans. "Fuck.." His eyes rolled back along with his head, laying flat on the bed once again as an attractive female straddled his hips and fondled him.

Y/N giggled like a seductive temptress who was accomplishing her goal. Her hand put down more pressure on the bulge that popped out of Dan's boxers. It was as hard as a rock,"You are eager." She simply stated.

Danny only offered her a whine. It was all he could muster. No one besides himself had touched him like this in quite awhile.

"Something wrong?"

Dan opened one eye to look at Y/N, who sat there innocently rubbing his cock like it was nothing. For a younger woman, she sure knew what she was fucking doing. She was teasing him enough for him to growl and grab at his hair like a madman.

"I just...ah.." He gasped when her hand hit the tip of his dick.

"Feeling alright Danny?" She said in a sort of affectionate tone.

"I don't believe all of your clothes are off." Dan said in a matter of fact way.

Suddenly, Y/N's behavior changed drastically. She sat over him with a scowl on her face, and she dramatically took her hand off of Dan's boxers.

"What? I-"

He was cut short by a swift slap to his face that left him burning and in pain.

\------------------------

Dan woke up holding the spot where he felt himself get slapped. He slowly sat up from the couch while still holding his poor cheek.

"Ah.." Dan winced because a bright, shining light was hitting his skin. It was the rising sun, blazing through his living room. That must've been what 'slapped' him. Unless someone actually did slap him.

"Y/N..?" Dan mumbled her name, eyes on the floor in thought. What the fuck did he just dream? It wasn't anything entirely new, he had dreams like this of her previously..but this time, it felt different. The hard erection he received every time he woke up from these dreams were not different however.

"Fuck." Dan sighed while sleepily glaring down at his undercarriage.

He remembered driving last night, and driving Y/N to his house, and putting her to bed. He made sure she slept in his own bed, and insisted that he had the couch. Not that Y/N resisted, she was exhausted and drunk as all hell.

Either way, Dan was horny, confused, and aching from both the sun hitting his face and from the backache his couch had caused him.

With a yawn and a little arm stretch, Dan straightened himself up and smacked his lips. His morning breath tasted awful. He needed to brush his teeth, immediately.

Dan pushed himself up off of the couch and began to shuffle towards his room. He tried his best to be quiet, he didn't want to wake her.

A girlish scream rang out from his bedroom, and Dan almost screamed himself.

His heart jumped when the scream sounded out, and kept doing so when he heard fastly approaching footsteps.

Y/N had placed herself in full view of Dan's bedroom doorway that was right in his path. She looked disheveled, as well as terrified.

"Dan?!" She shrieked.

He offered to comfort her, and raised his arms, palms facing her,"Y/N..calm down. Everything is oka-"

"Why am I here? Is this..your house?" She panicked, but wasn't screaming anymore. Her hair was a hot mess, and her makeup was smudged all over her eyes. Dan wanted to laugh, but now wasn't the most appropriate time.

"Yes." Dan said as calmly as he could. He took a step towards Y/N like she was a scared animal,"You got really drunk last night at the party, so I figured it would be best if you slept it off at my place."

That answer seemed to scare her even more. She stopped looking around his house and stared straight at Dan with wide eyes,"You..Then.." She paused, then covered her chest with her arms,"DID WE-?!"

Dan frantically shook his head,"Oh! God! NO! No! No we didn't...no!" Dan confirmed, frowning as he saw still how scared Y/N was. She really didn't remember much of last night at all.

Would them sleeping together be so bad of a thing?

"Jesus.." Y/N breathed. She had let out a huge breath like it was a relief. Dan didn't feel offended. Not one bit. He was curious about last night though, and all of the things that Y/N's drunken self had said. She probably didn't recall any of that either.

"Good..I-" Y/N paused, returning her gaze from the floor and back up to Dan. He just looked at her with a concerned expression. He was waiting for her to say something.

"Not that that would be..ah. God.." She shut herself up immediately. Her hand had went to her temple that must've been pulsating. Her eyes closed with a slight wince,"My head hurts..what the hell happened last night?"

Dan found a little humor in all of these circumstances. The woman before him had basically confessed her love to him--and hit on him--and here she was, not remembering any of it. The dream he had this morning was pushed far out of the window, he couldn't think of that right now, of all the things there was to think about.

Although, in the back of Dan's male mind, he was looking at Y/N's messy bedhead and imagining all kinds of the good reasons that could be behind that, caused by him.

A small puff of air left Dan's lips, resembling a chuckle,"You got drunk as fuck, and you were gonna do some very unsafe things, so I offered to take you home." He gestured to his house with long, outstretched arms,"Here we are."

Y/N's tired yet wild eyes looked around. She appeared to be a lot calmer now. Her hand had found its way to her chest as she observed her surroundings. She looked into the living room, specifically eyeing the couch that had a few blankets strewn across it.

"Did..you sleep there?" She asked, eyes on Dan now.

He nodded, waving his hand at his 'bed' from last night,"Yeah. You needed the bed more than I did." He simply said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Another soft sigh came from Y/N. For some reason, Dan had thought it was the prettiest thing. He took in the noise and his heart had just started to race. He didn't even know what he was thinking, but his body seemed to do that for him.

"God. I'm so sorry.." She paused and raised another hand to her head,"I probably said some weird ass shit too."

Oh she had no idea.

"Well.." Dan dragged his sentence along. He wasn't going to tell her unless she really asked, so he teased her by pretending he was going to tell her.

"Jesus Christ.." Y/N said for about the 5th time,"I don't even wanna know-"

Dan went along with it, trying to pretend that she didn't confess how much she seemingly wanted Dan's penis that night. His smirk curled and he moved his shoulders up and down in a teasing manner,"Are you suuuureee? You spilled some pretty sick beans last night Y/N.."

"No-" She giggled at Dan's playful body language, holding up a hand for him to cease it. She was smiling now. That was good. "I'm good..." The two of them shared a little chuckle with each other, a small warmth of camaraderie stringed between them. She seemed to be less on edge. Mission accomplished. 

Y/N was a nice girl..a pretty one too. Dan had wanted everyone in his life and everyone around him to be happy, so it was natural that he had tried so hard to make Y/N laugh and become more comfortable. 

But the feeling of being comfortable contradicted with the uncomfortable feeling Dan had underneath his jeans that he had slept in. He kept a smile on his face, but internally he was screaming for release. The morning curse of men had cast itself upon him. And here was a beautiful woman who he knew he couldn't do a thing with.

"Thank you Dan." Y/N said genuinely, her early-in-the-morning smile radiating like the sun slap Dan took to the cheek,"Not everyone would do that for me. Thank you for bringing me here."

Pushing his boner power down as best as he possibly could, Dan let his smile grow instead,"Its no problem baby, I wanted to help...uh-" He had realized he just called her 'baby'. Which was a normal term of endearment for all of Dan's friends. But he also realized he had never called Y/N that before. And he needed to pee to get rid of this boner. NOW.

Y/N's smile started to fade amongst her confusion, and so did Dan's. He made a constipated looking face and placed both of his hands over his erection, and proceeded to act like a little kid who needed to pee; doing the Pee Dance.

"If you don't mind..can I use my bathroom?" He smiled awkwardly as he pushed his legs together in another attempt to make Y/N laugh.

It was a successful attempt. She shyly pushed some of her messy strands of hair away from her face and gestured into Dan's room,"Go ahead."

"Thanks-" Like lightning, Dan was bolting towards the room and across it. He went straight into the bathroom and slammed the door in his hurry.

After Dan had done his business, Y/N found herself wandering into the kitchen near by. She felt a bit awkward and snoopy doing so, but she honestly wasn't sure what to do without Dan. In this instance..not..like, in a life situation. She heard the toilet flush though, and something about making breakfast, to which Y/N had to scoff at, her hands nervously rubbing her arms up and down.

"That sounds pretty domestic of you Dan-" She raised her voice as she looked out his kitchen window so he could hear her from the other room.

He had his voice raised as well, only now he was standing by his bedroom doorway, in clear view from the kitchen. A position totally made unnecessary for yelling,"Its not! I do it for Arin every time he comes over!"

His dumb antics had made Y/N laugh again, a sight that 100% made Dan grin. His subconscious was killing itself trying to figure out his internal dilemma, but in the moment, Dan just went through the motions.

Y/N turned to face Dan as he leaned off his bedroom doorway and approached the kitchen. She scrunched her brow together to give him an unimpressed expression,"That's still pretty domestic."

"Do you want me to make you scrambled eggs or not?" He mimicked her playful mood by doing the same thing with his brows, only as he stalked toward the kitchen and walked across from Y/N across the counter in the middle, he used a different voice. One a mildly annoyed father would use with his kids.

And Y/N played along, acting all shy and naive,"Yes please." She watched as Dan effortlessly reached for a pan in a cabinet. Her eyes drifted from his long limbs down to the sink beside him. It was slightly messy, and no doubt the two of them needed plates if they were going to eat. So she walked over to the sink beside Dan, which kind of surprised him.

"Wha-" He closed the cabinet door, looking over at the beautiful woman that was now so suddenly close to him again. In the back of his head he really hoped she didn't notice his boner earlier,"What are you doing? Go sit down girl." He added as he brushed past her to the fridge in order to get eggs.

Y/N made the same unimpressed face as earlier,"I'm washing your dishes. Your kitchens a mess." 

It wasn't THAT much of a mess.

Dan pulled the door open and beamed,"Who's being domestic now?"

Y/N roped herself right into that one. She shut up instantly and turned her head back down to the pile of dirty dishes before her. She could feel her cheeks start to burn red. It was so apparent that Dan could see it from where he was , a few feet away from her. Just in case she was uncomfortable, Dan decided to assure her.

As he made his way back over to her on his way to the stove with carton of eggs in his hand he said,"I'm just messing with you baby."

There it was again. 'Baby'. She'd heard him call everyone that..so why did her heart start pounding when he addressed her like that?

"You know. Whenever I have a lady over I do everything I can so they don't have to lift a finger." Dan opened up the carton and set the pan down on a burner. With a flick of his wrist he turned a knob to start it up,"But then again.." He lifted his head to meet Y/N's innocent little eyes,"I usually sleep with them too."

Now, why the hell did those words come out of Danny's mouth? Dan and Y/N both thought this in their heads.

"I haven't slept with you..so you're letting me do your dishes?"

"Pretty much." Dan shrugged off his internally screaming inner voice and shrugged. He began to crack the eggs,"So. How do you like your eggs?"

\----------------------------

Dan had prepared toast and eggs for the two of them to share, and like the gorgeous gentleman he was, he set Y/N's plate down across from his. He wanted to sit Y/N next to him..but he wasn't sure why. Again, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

"You feel okay though?"

Y/N perked up her head as she sat down where Dan had assigned her, across from him and behind a window,"Yeah. My head's a little fuzzy, but other than that I'm alright. Thank you though," She said before picking up a fork in order to eat a bite of the eggs.

Dan had already taken his first bite,"No problem.." He swallowed. Dan had seriously considered confessing to what exactly happened last night. He stepped into Y/N's shoes, and if he acted the way he did last night, he would want someone to tell him. Albeit he was probably a bit more responsible now than he was back then.

"Do..do you really want to know what happened last night?"

Y/N breathed a laugh,"Jesus, you make it seem like I burned the whole town down somehow."

Dan contracted her laugh and shook his head. When he looked at her he realized just how "date-y" this seating positions were. What was his subconscious thinking?

"Nothing quite like that."

Y/N smiled down at her food and poked at the rest of her eggs that remained,"I'd rather not know then."

"Suit yourself, I'll just keep all the beans to myself-" Dan took a bite of a slice of bacon, smiling out of the corner of his mouth.

Like a joke someone told that no one wanted to be rude by not laughing, Y/N exhaled and made a poor excuse of a laugh, her eyes back down on her food now. Dan noticed her body language (which he was pretty good at reading) and he perceived her as nervous, or maybe even awkward. Dan had to admit, this was kind of an awkward situation and he hated it, even though he was the one who insisted he bring her to his house. And now she was in his kitchen. And they didn't sleep together. He was determined to make it not that way though. All of a sudden he felt like he was 20 years old again, lanky and awkward as a baby giraffe.

"Can I ask you something?" Y/N piped up a few seconds later.

Dan's fork clinked against his plate while he inclined his head her way, his eyes curious,"Yeah. " He grinned,"You change your mind about last night?"

"No!" She smiled right back, a radiant sight,"It's a personal question..and I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

Dan paused, trying to wrack his brain to figure out just what it could've been about. And that's when it hit him. One of the few things he didn't talk about on Game Grumps.

"Go ahead. It's just you and me-" Dan simply stated.

Almost like she was dumbfounded at his answer, Y/N hesitated, her mouth opening and then closing. It opened for real though afterwards,"Do you have..a girlfriend? Or ladies you're interested in particular right now?"

Dan opened his mouth to make a reply, but Y/N beat him to it,"I-I know its a weird question! I just..I've been super curious." She made a worried expression with a pitiful smile. It was kinda cute, and her cheeks were blushing, which Dan assumed they did pretty easily.

"Well, I've had girlfriends-" Dan admitted shamelessly, adjusting his arm to lay on the table as he spoke,"Right now?"

Y/N appeared to be frozen in time, or maybe that was how Dan was looking at her right now. He knew very well he could be a smooth motherfucker and flirt up a storm with her but...he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not right that second anyway. In the back of his head he thought it would unintentionally be messing with her mind, considering last night's events.

"No." He finally said,"No girlfriends right now. Last one I had was almost a year ago."

Like she was holding her breath the entire time it took Dan to answer, Y/N sighed, but she tried to cover up how heavy it was by adjusting herself in her chair. She nodded afterwards, and in her mind she was panicking on how to follow up with that.

Dan helped though by asking,"What about you?" He was genuinely curious, because that would be a whole other can of worms,"You have anyone special?" He raised an eyebrow and also a hand to stick his fork in an egg and opened his mouth to take a bite.

"Me? U-uh.." The question must've caught her off guard because her cheek's got even more red, and her smile was more nervous as ever. Dan had considered it endearing, and if she was wearing glasses he'd probably reach over and kiss her.

What?

"No.." She said, then added with her hands in her lap,"Last one I had was about a year ago too."

"Oh my god!~" Dan adopted his 'girl voice' that cracked. It was a poor excuse of a Valley Girl impression,"We're like, TOTALLY break up twins!" He made the both of them laugh, so much so that Y/N threw her head back with giggles.

"Y-You're right, you wanna talk about how nasty and gross they were?" She said through breaths.

"Like, YAS!" Dan snorted happily much like he often did in Game Grumps around Arin. He felt a weird sensation while doing so too. He often felt this when he knew he was making a connection with someone, romantic or not.

Afterwards, Dan had felt the slight tension slip away. He couldn't speak for Y/N, but on his side he felt a lot more happier.

"So you do like California? It's on the other side of the country from New Jersey-" Y/N had ended up asking him. Dan didn't particularly mind at all. She had said a few moments ago that:

"I know I've been watching Game Grumps for years but, its different asking questions and getting answers in person, you know what I mean?"

And Dan did know what she meant. He felt more..closer to her because of what she had said. She didn't assume anything. Even though Dan had never told any lies on Game Grumps, she still wanted to know from his words. It was like she didn't even know him as Danny from Game Grumps, she wanted to get to know him as just Danny.

Not that Danny from Game Grumps was a bad person or her or anyone else loving him from Game Grumps or NSP was bad, not at all. It was fucking awesome seeing and meeting people who appreciate what he and his friends put out. He loved them just as dearly as they loved him.

What Dan was trying to comprehend in his mind was that he felt really appreciative that she was asking questions she probably already knew the answer to.

"I do. It hardly ever rains or snows. It's fucking great!" Dan exclaimed, gesturing to the window behind Y/N. The sun was shining brightly against the window, and Dan watched as Y/N turned her head to see what he had meant. For some reason he found himself stricken by seeing her head turn gracefully, her hair moving with her head. When her head came back, Dan's vision blurred everything out except for Y/N's face and her beautiful grin.

God, what was happening to him?

"Although-" Danny sadly added, smiling in the same manner,"I do miss the rain..and the snow. Ya know?"

"That rhymed-" Y/N said as if it was a primal instinct to point that out,"And yeah, I do know."

Why did his heart pound when she said that? "Sometimes I like hearing it hit the roof..and looking out to see the gorgeous snow laying all over the ground."

Y/N nodded and stood up out of her chair, grabbing her now empty plate,"I totally understand. I already miss it."

Dan saw this and was not standing for it. Of course, he stood up anyway and sternly yet gently held his hand out in front of Y/N and her plate,"No no no, sit. I got it."

"Dan.." Y/N dismissively shook her head,"You're too sweet, I got this."

"Y/N I insist. You're a guest in my house, and I intend to treat you as such." And with that Dan snatched the plate away from Y/N and turned to head to the sink where the plate belonged.

A snide remark came from Y/N's mouth,"Does that mean you intend to sleep with me too?"

Dan's face froze as he rinsed the excess food off of the plate. For a fraction of a second Dan had pictured it. He and the lovely Y/N, intertwined on his bed. His very own bed. His heart was racing.

But he played it off cool by chuckling and turning off the sink. He cocked his head in her direction so he could hear her,"I wouldn't go that far with you. Maybe just a peck on the cheek."

Y/N, who seemed to be playing on the defensive side, scoffed and out of Dan's line of vision he saw her touch her chest like she was an offended woman in the 1800's.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh," Dan chortled as he made his way back to the table,"You think that highly of yourself do you?"

"I think I at least deserve a kiss on the lips from a guy who thinks I'm attractive!" She angrily stood up from her chair with a cheeky grin on her face.

Dan spat back,"Who said I think you're attractive?"

"Who said I was talking about you?" Y/N gave it right back to him. Ouch Danny, ouch.

"Fair play, fair play.." Dan submitted and waved his hand dismissively to Y/N to let her know he was done playing now. He took his seat back at his dining room table to continue his breakfast.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Y/N smile to herself, like she was proud she won. At something. While he was munching on the last of his bacon, and after a few moments of silence. Dan interrupted Y/N's bored hand twirling,"Does that mean..you want me to kiss you?"

\-------------------------------------------------------

You sat very still, your fingers that twirled her hair tendrils froze in place, and so did your eyes. The heat went to your cheeks in just a second after Dan said that aloud. The very thought of his lips touching any part of your body suddenly made your heart race. This crush was unbearable. But surely he was joking, right? He did this with everyone.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding.." Dan waved off his statement again with a light hearted chuckle and a flick of his last piece of bacon. "You're too young for me anyway, baby."

He had said that so casually, and you knew deep down in your heart that it was true, but that didn't mean that your heart couldn't instantly shatter just by him saying those few words.

In retaliation, you sat straight up with a look of bored disbelief,"Not too young to fuck apparently." Dan's face twitched just a little bit,"Yeah, I've heard your stories Dan. Pedophile.." You smirked.

Dan was the one who froze and became embarrassed now, but he was determined to hide it. He rolled his eyes,"Everyone I've had relations with has been of legal age, young lady-" Dan pointed his fork at you.

"Suuurreee-"

"Can you say the same for yourself?" Dan said with a furrowed brow.

"Yes!" You said automatically, standing up in the process and making the chair you were sitting on scoot back. It screeched against Dan's hardwood floor,"I mean..we were both 17 at the time.." You realized you had just then revealed your possible virginity age, but then you countered that with,"Better age than in your 20's." You grinned with how clever you sounded.

You watched as Dan playfully and softly hit his clenched fist and hit his table,"God dammit! Some people are late bloomers you know?"

Giggling with laughter and happiness, you leaned forward to snatch Dan's plate away from him in the same manner that he did to you. You decided to make a break for it to the sink since Dan was closer to it, and the chance that he would take the plate before it hit the water would be less likely.

From behind you you could hear Dan shuffle and the sound of his feet hit the ground. He was chasing after you,"Hey! Y/N! Don't you dare!" Dan made an attempt to run after you but he was going faster than he had expected, and as you stood there, sink running and the plate being washed, your back was turned to Dan. All while to catch himself from his unexpected speed, Dan placed his hands on either side of you against the counter the sink was on. This made him closer to you than he had ever been before, to your own memory anyway.

His face was right next to yours, lurching forward as he stopped himself. You noticed that his crotch had grazed against you in the valiant effort of trying to catch you, but soon after you felt it he had backed off and you couldn't feel it anymore. What you could feel though was his breath against your neck, and the very soft and slow breaths as Dan was trying to comprehend just what all happened in the span of 5 seconds. His presence was so warm, just being this close to him made you feel all warm, like the sunshine was shining on you. Or maybe that was because of the major crush you were harboring.

You didn't dare move, or say anything. The only noise in Dan's house was the water running from the sink in front of you. That and the both of your bated breaths combined. Your heart was pounding, and all you could think of doing was turning your head. So you did, inclining it to the side, and dear God, was Danny's face even more beautiful up close. You got a better look at his eyes, his deep and dark eyes that were so sweet and alluring. And his big ol nose, and his lips. Of course, his lips were the parts of his face that you landed on. Realizing that, you closed your mouth by sealing your lips tight and shifting the focus to his eyes. They didn't ever seem to move away from your own, making you feel doubly self conscious and helpless. His gaze was piercing, but you could get a hint of hesitation from him.

How the fuck did this even happen?

Out of nowhere you were the first to break the silence,"Does this mean you want to kiss me?"

Dan blinked after you said that, and you swore to Jesus he looked at your very own lips, as if that was his answer. Dan heaved softly through his nose and then out in the same way. You noticed his nostrils flared just a little bit when he did this. It was so fucking endearing, and you knew right then you were so in deep with this man. It was awful.


	8. Because

Nothing was being said. From either of you. A few seconds passed between the two of you that was spent staring at each other's lips. After that, you began to feel your heart sinking. What the fuck were you two doing? You barely knew Dan. In real life anyway. And you two JUST met. He didn't want you like that. He wouldn't ever. He would've kissed you by now if he did. Right?

You broke the silence, once again,"..Dan?" You said his name, observing the taller man as he towered over you. He seemed like he was looking at every inch of you, drinking you in. No other man had ever laid eyes on you like that before. No other man made you feel like the one in front of you. Right now. The look in his dark brown eyes made the sinking feeling in your heart disappear, it evolved into jumping into you throat.

Dan, still silent as a mouse kept looking at you like he was searching for something, like he was thinking really hard about what he was doing. Or what he was about to do. You hoped.

Since he was non responsive, and you were on a roller coaster of emotions, you inched your body ever so closer to Dan's. This closed the distance between the two of you and left very little breathing room. You could feel his breath on yours, a few more inches and you would've been touching everywhere. You wanted to brace for the ruggedness of his stubble on his face, you wanted to experience what his mouth felt like. He was so close, and all you had to do was move just a little further. God...you wanted nothing more than to just touch him everywhere. His hair..his chest, his face..everything. You tilted your head just a little to maybe get his attention, and to better accommodate what you were about to do.

Just as your lips parted to compensate for the addition of another pair mixed in, Dan had backed away. You felt the sinking feeling hit you like a bus. You physically slumped. Blinking out of embarrassment, you felt your cheeks burn bright and hard enough that it almost brought you to tears.

Finally, Dan spoke,"I..I'm sorry Y/N. I.."

Of course. An apology. How could you have been so stupid?

You bit back tears of anger and embarrassment while rolling in your bottom lip. You looked away from him. Already you missed his lumbering figure being that close to you. It was so much colder without him there.

You couldn't see him, but the worry in his voice made your eyes flicker to him. He was frowning, and looking very distraught. A sight again that almost brought you to tears.

"I-I.." He stammered. "Oh..are you? Y/N.."

"What?" You built yourself up and tried to act strong. You had to clench your fists. Dan was the last person you wanted to see you cry.

"Are you crying?"

"No!" You raised your voice without even realizing, which broke one of the barriers in your eyes. The floodgates had opened. You distracted it by rubbing casually at the bridge of your nose. "No. I'm sorry. That was a stupid question. I-I didn't mean to--"

Dan interrupted, face still taught with worry,"Don't be.." He paused, then took a shaky breath,"I should take you back to the office." He reached beside him for his keys on the table beside him but what you said made him freeze

With a hint of bitterness you instantly regretted, you said,"I'll take an Uber or something. Don't worry about it."

The air seemed to stiffen. Dan slowly and hesitantly retreated his hand from his keys. It wasn't like him at all. He would insist that he drive you. But he didn't even fight your decision. He must've really wanted you to go. He must've really thought you were dumb.

You pulled your phone out from your pocket while Dan stood in the same spot he was, unmoving.

He spoke up, only with one word,"Y/N."

Your eyes looked up at him only for a fraction of a second, then returned to your phone. But you did a double take because you had never seen someone look as hurt and confused as he did. You tried your best to ignore it though, and went to find yourself a reliable Uber driver that would take you home.

"Y/N." Dan repeated.

"Yes?" You replied to him the second time.

"I'm..sorry." he said for the umpteenth time.

"For?"

This whole situation felt so off it almost made you sick. The two of you were just joking and laughing a few moments ago, even flirting! And now that you gave Dan a chance to make a little move towards anything, he rejected you. And apologized.

At least he apologized..

You watched as Dan rolled his bottom lip in too before he said,"For..that. Initiating that." The more he talked the more you wished he stopped. Every word he was speaking cut you deeper and deeper.

He looked almost at a loss for words. His brow was permanently stuck in a furrow,"It's..complicated." Dan let out a distraught sigh and you suddenly didn't want to hear from him anymore.

"I don't think you not wanting to kiss me is that complicated buddy." You flashed him a smile from behind your phone. Inside all you wanted to do was throw yourself onto your bed and cry, but you were pretty proud of yourself that all you were doing was making a joke about it. You wanted everything to go back to the way it was before. So, that's what you tried to do.

"No..I mean.." Dan faltered a few times while you accepted the driver and then closed the app,"You.." Dan truly looked like he did not know what to say. Which didn't impress you in the slightest.

"Dan." You said seriously, nodding at him once,"It's totally fine. Don't worry about it. Okay? It was just a silly little thing."

Still silent, with a furrowed brow, and a look of worry, Dan sighed,"Okay."

\-------------------------------

She left in a god damned Uber. Dan did not blame her at all in the slightest. He debated on giving her a hug, so he did anyway. It was a short one. When she left his front door he already was burning and yearning for her touch again. She thanked him for the ride last night and a place to crash, and then she was gone.

He had her right in is hand..and he dropped her. He let her go. And why? For what?

Because she was all over you last night..she said she loved you. And didn't even clarify in what sense. Shes a fan. (maybe not anymore) Shes literally 20 years younger than you. Because she doesn't even live in California. There were so many fucking reasons.

Then why did he feel like he made the wrong decision? Why didn't he just lean in and kiss her? Why didn't he at least tell her yes?

Because. She works for Ross, who works for Arin. Who you also work for. And is also your close friend.

Dan somehow made it to the couch he had slept on the night before, eyes feeling dead and neutral as he fought inside of his head. It started to pound.

"Uggghhhh!!" he let out a loud groan. Exasperated, he grabbed at his hair by the roots and threw his head back against the seat,"You fucking idiot!" He yelled and shook his head. He was truly the dumbest guy he had ever met. All these years and you would think he would've learned a thing or two about women, especially ones he cared about like Y/N.

Y/N was special..she's different. She's..

"A fan..shes a young woman.." Dan started to say out loud,"She's an intern..she doesn't even know me and I don't know her..she's,...fucking gorgeous-" Dan hissed while letting go of his hair with one hand and replaced it by dragging it down his face.

"Yes. I want to kiss you. God I would do so much more to you if I could." Dan lowered his voice to a whisper, even though he was the only one listening,"Y/N.." he groaned out her name in pure frustration. This crush..if thats what it was, was getting completely out of hand. She was a beautiful young woman with an adorable presence and a rockin bod..and a cute laugh..

And here Dan was, daring to even think about taking advantage of her.

As he stared up at the ceiling, Dan pulled his phone out of his pocket as well and held it up to his face. He pressed a few times on the screen and it began to ring.

"Hey. Barry."

\----------------------------------

The wood rings in the desk were spiraling. They were curling. And worst of all they reminded you of Dan's stupid and curly hair. Despite how mad you were at yourself and him, you still wanted to give it a good pull.

Suzy said something to you but you weren't paying any attention. It only took her three times to get your attention and a little hand wave.

"Y/N?" She raised a nearly perfect eyebrow once your eyes met.

"Hmm?" You hummed casually, as if you weren't totally just thinking about Dan just then.

"You're sure you're okay?" Suzy paused, then moved side to side ever so slightly in her computer chair,"Did something happen at Dan's?"

You didn't exactly want to talk about it. Especially with someone you idolized and wanted to be really good friends with like Suzy Berhow. If you told her 'hey, yeah. So i have a huuugee crush on Dan and I don't remember anything from last night but yeah I just met him two days ago but I really like him and we almost kissed but he rejected me and now I don't know what to do or how to feel'..what on Earth would she even think?

You opened your mouth a little and nodded. The words came out afterwards,"Yeah I'm okay. Nothing happened.."

"Hmm.." Suzy scrunched up her face and pouted her lips while she eyed you suspiciously. She slowly dragged her phone across her desk, her eyes glued onto you. She didn't seem very convinced. "So, if I call Dan, is he gonna say everything's fine?"

Your heart raced just at the thought of hearing his damn voice again. What would he even say? Did you trust Dan enough to not say anything? Like you said, you barely knew the guy!

"No!" You panicked, clearly flustered and turning red. You shook your head frantically while waving your hands in an attempt to stop Suzy from embarrassing you further.

Suzy's face went from a sly smirk to a confused smile.

Sighing, you said,"Don't call him. Everything's okay."

The smile on your new friend's face was confused, but it turned into a knowing, wise, and sad one,"Y/N. I know it's not...do you want to talk about it?"

There was a long pause between the two of you, which you used to looked away from Suzy. Instead you chose the floor below you to focus and get lost in. With your arms crossed, you waited awhile, then let out a small exhale. Everything that occurred just this morning went by so fast in your head, and then when your mind caught up to Dan being so close beside you, close enough to touch, to hold, time froze. It was like watching a movie that was just getting to the climax but the DVD had froze.

"No." You said again after a minute.

Shifting in her chair, Suzy nodded. You felt a soft understanding come from her voice and from the way she was sitting and facing you,"Okay. I understand..I'm always here if you need to talk though. Alright?"

It was a huge comfort to hear that, even though Suzy had been unbelievably supportive anyway. You felt like you were getting close with her, with everyone here. Which didn't make the situation with Dan any better. Regardless, Suzy relieved a bit of the weight on your shoulders and the pain in your heart.

You nodded silently in response, flashing her a small yet gracious smile.

"And you're also staying at my house from now on. At least until you get an apartment or something."

"What?" Your eyes widened, mouth slightly agape. You wanted to protest, but your mind was still jumbled between a lot of different things right now.

"I decided for you." Proud of herself, Suzy was grinning again and stood up and out of her chair,"I also already talked to Arin about it. You aren't allergic to cats, are you?"

"I..no..but-"

"Good!" She laughed and then leaned over her desk to pat your shoulder while you sat on the other side of it,"I think you need it. Plus I can promise you our guest bed is a lot comfier than the pull out beds here in the office.."

You had a feeling you would be sighing a lot today,"Suzy..thank you." You gave in. Friends did always make you feel better in these kinds of situations. Plus, you got to hang out at fucking Suzy and Arin's house!! With all of their cats!! Why did you say no in the first place?

"I care about you girl. Anything else you need, just let me know." She patted your shoulder again and then took her hand back in order to pick up her phone. "I'm gonna go find Arin and talk to him real quick-" She gestured to the hall behind her, then started to walk that way,"Be right back!"

"Mmmhm.." You smiled while she left, but the farther she got from you, the colder you felt. And the weaker your smile got. Eventually, you were back to where you were before, staring blankly at the floor while your mind raced itself almost to death. You soon developed a god damn migraine.

\-----------------------------------------

"Oh no, he totally fucking likes her."

"That would explain a lot.."

"Babe, did something happen?" Arin looked serious now, away from his phoen that he was occupied with. He eyed his wife curiously, hoping for an answer.

Suzy merely shook her head,"I don't know..if something did happen Y/N's not telling me."

Arin muttered almost under his breath and glanced down the hall where Y/N was,"She was all over him last night.."

"Dan would never do anything to her and you know it."

"I know, I know. Of course he wouldn't-"

"She's staying at our place until she finds one of her own. I hope that's alright." Suzy touched Arin's arm affectionately.

He smiled at his wife,"Yeah. That's fine.." his smile wavered and then he began to look away from Suzy,"You think Dan's okay?"

Suzy shrugged,"I have no idea...probably in the same state she's in."

"Gosh.." Arin inhaled and rubbed the back of his neck,"I want to talk to him.."

"Go ahead. I'll be with Y/N" Leaning up just slightly, Suzy pecked her husband on the cheek and then turned to see if she could comfort her new friend somehow. And to see if she could get things back to normal and on track.

Arin reveled for a moment at his love's tender touch, then he immediately called one of his closest friend in the world. He was damn near like a brother to him. He wanted Y/N to be okay, but he hoped Dan was too. He'd seen Dan at his worst relationship wise. He had helped him through a lot of tough times just like this..if you could call whatever this was a tough time?

\-----------------------

(Dan's House. 3 PM)

"Hmm..oh..Arin.." Dan was actually hesitant on picking up the phone, and he never acted like that when Arin called. He had a deep, sinking feeling in his gut that he knew what this call was about. He was dreading it.

He picked up his phone and looked at himself in the mirror, since he had just gotten done shaving his beard,"Hey Arin. What's up?"

"Not much buddy..how are you?"

He sounded casual..but Dan wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly what he was calling about. He had just gotten off the phone with Barry about it all, about how his life was now. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it again at the moment.

Hesitant, Dan replied,"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Uh-huh-" Arin sounded unimpressed, and Dan could practically hear him smiling,"I'm fine too.." He cleared his throat,"Did you get Y/N home okay?"

He was gonna dig it out of Dan slowly. Maybe he should just bite the bullet and tell Arin what happened? Of course he would do it eventually, Dan was just gnawing and fighting on whether he wanted to lay it all out now.

"Yeah.." Dan chewed on his bottom lip while he looked himself in the eyes. His reflection looked somewhat foreign to him, yet so familiar. He reminded him of himself when he was much younger..and a lot more tired..and in a lot darker of a place. "She slept in my bed and I slept on the couch. She woke up all scared-" Dan chuckled breathlessly at the memory this morning. He was glad Arin couldn't see it, because he was sadly smiling in the mirror now. "She thought I took her home and we had sex..but I ended up just making her breakfast and afterwards she got a ride back to the office." And none of this was a lie...he wasn't lying...so that was good, right?

"That's what she said too-" Arin shared the laughter,"Did..anything happen Dan? I mean-" IT sounded like he was trying to come up with a way to say it but not say it outright, as if he thought Dan would have no idea what he was trying to imply. "I know you said you like her."

"Well..I.." Dan set his razor aside, lest he would get anxious and start messing with whatever was in his hands. When he looked back up to the mirror he saw himself again, not surprisingly. His mind began to wonder though, after hearing what Arin had said. He had tried desperately to get Y/N out of his head after she left. It was hard. And the worst thing of all was it was never this hard! Then again, maybe he just needed to be away from you for awhile, maybe this would all blow over and go away, and you could be how you were before. Friends.

Yes. Friends who are seriously attracted to each other.

"Yes.." he admitted. His whole body physically shook, as if he was frightened that he actually said that out loud to himself. "I do."

"Did..she.." Arin dragged it out,"Did she try anything?"

Frustrated, Dan exhaled through his nose deeply, making somewhat of a 'dad-like' noise,"Arin.."

"Hey, I-I'm sorry man, if you don't wanna talk about it, its fine."

"No..Arin-" Dan stopped him, frowning as he began to feel bad. He did want to tell Arin, more than anything.

The thing was, all he could see or think about was Y/N. In a quick flash, he began to see her with him in the mirror. He imagined her on his arm, looking at the two of you in the bathroom mirror. He saw her hair, messy and amazing..He saw her sleepy eyes, maybe a few hickies around her pretty little neck.

Dan clenched his fist at his side. He needed this all to stop.

"-I do. It's just.." Dan used his clenched fist to clench his hair instead,"Somehow we almost..kissed." He choked out the words,"And..I froze. I don't know why..because God knows I want to kiss her, ya know?"

"I think you know why, Dan."

"I hate how you're right sometimes.." Dan took Arin's sentiment lightly and chuckled despite how he was feeling not so chuckle-y inside.

"But I don't, so tell me!" Arin laughed right back,"Unless you don't want to."

Recalling small parts of his state of mind in that frozen moment in time, Dan expressed it as best he could in words to his good friend,"I like her a lot..I thought she was cute when I first saw her but then..I started talking to her and the feelings just..got worse. It was lust at first, I will admit that..and I guess that's partly why I feel bad?" Dan smiled at himself. He felt like he was in a therapy session,"And those feelings are still there, trust me..but I look at her and I think about how pretty she is..and about how I want.." he stopped suddenly.

"You want? Want what?" Arin was hooked onto Dan's words.

"How I want to hold her..how I want to just..be there for her." The more he talked about it, the more he was realizing it. He was slowly becoming horrified.

Dan could tell Arin was enjoying this. He could hear the smugness in his voice,"You do like her."

"Arin she practically flung herself at me last night at the party. My boner was screaming at me but I'm a decent human being..she doesn't remember any of it, thank god."

"Sheesh, really?" Arin's voice raised slightly, but not too loudly,"She was really out of it when Suzy and I checked on her.."

"Yeah dude,..I felt really fucking bad for her." Dan moved his hand from his hair down to drag it across his face,"God..Arin..what do I do?"

"So, you two almost kissed, but you were the one who pulled away?"

"Yes." Dan said flatly.

"..why?"

"Why?" Dan repeated, scrunching his brow,"Because shes a fan Arin, because she works in our office, because she's so much younger.."

Arin interrupted,"That one hasn't stopped you before-"

"Shut up-" Dan interrupted right back, but the two boys giggled a little. The moment flickered quickly though,"I didn't kiss her because I was scared.."

"You were scared?"

"jesus you're really just gonna drag all of my feelings out on the table for you to poke around with a stick aren't you?" Dan felt a lot lighter thanks to Arin's company. He was actually smiling even though his stomach was dropped down to his feet. Their chemistry and each other's presence was so easy to handle that both felt amazingly comfortable.

"A love stick-" Arin said proudly.

"Don't ever say 'love stick' to me again please."

"Okay okay, why were you scared? Did you talk to her about it or were you a little pussy?

Dan rolled his eyes at himself and at Arin from the phone,"I tried..but she was upset and she left before I could even say anything about it.

"Sounds like a pussy to me."

"Arin I will beat your ass," Dan snickered and decided to stretch his legs and walk to the other side of the bathroom. He also got tired of looking at himself. "I just think I need time. Brian and I are gonna be busy this week anyway.."

"You..did apologize to her, right?"

"Of course I did, I'm not a complete asshole, Arin."

"Well, that's good at least..she's gonna be staying at my house until she gets a place."

And..why did he tell Dan that?

"Oh. Cool." It's not like he offered first or anything. "Anything's better than those cots at the office."

"True...do you want her number?"

Dan paused. But only for a few seconds. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing.

"Yes please."


	9. Okay?

A few days had went by after you stayed over at Dan's. The office was cleaned up after the party, and you began to feel yourself sink in to the work environment comfortably, especially with Suzy's help. Bless her heart. You also lived with her, so you were extra grateful. She drove you to and from home unless one of you had to stay late. With the various schedules you two had, sometimes you didn't see each other, but she'd send you memes sometimes. Either by popping in to show you, or just texting them to you from another room. You began to get a lot more comfortable with her.

Arin was in the office almost every day as well, since he was the boss, below Brent. And below the 10 MPH producer. Arin signed people's paychecks, so he was here most of the time. Matt and Ryan were there almost every day it seemed like. They not only had their own show to worry about and record, they edited videos for the Grumps as well. You found yourself getting close to Matt as well. You two were the closest in age, and you shared a bit of the same humor. But mostly it was your shared love for Animal Crossing.

Matt had lost to one of the other interns for Dream Daddy for a coffee run, so he brought back everyone's order.

Brent had popped in to see how everyone was doing, but was interrupted by a warm coffee cup being placed in his hand.

"For Mr. Brent Lilly-" Matt said with a little grin. He turned around and then dropped the smile as if he was faking it when he brought it to Brent. Who was everyone's overall boss. Once he reached the table a couple of us had sat at, Matt exhaled,"Phew..he really does smell."

"Matt shut the fuck up-" you joked while glancing at Brent who was obliviously drinking and breathing in his fresh coffee.

"He knows I'm joking. Maybe one day everyone will like you enough to joke with you Y/N-" Matt winked and plopped himself down into one of the office chairs. You think it was probably Vernon's?

Acting offended, you narrowed your eyes at him, but you smiled to make sure he knew you were joking too,"I'm sleeping at Arin and Suzy's...aren't you and Ryan living together in a shitty ass apartment?"

One of the other interns chuckled while Ryan made an 'air horn sound'. Very obnoxiously.

Matt handed you your coffee,"Touche, touche."

"It's pronounced: "touchy", Matthew-" Ryan rebuttled. He completely ignored the fact that you had burned him too. It was a part of the bit, you figured.

"Ryan. I swear to God I just got you coffee. Do NOT give me a grammer lesson right now."

And then the playful bickering ensued. You could tell that's where this bit was headed. You rolled your eyes while you pushed yourself back on your office chair in the lounge. The wheels squeaked just a little while the warm liquid touched your lips.

"It's not fucking grammar you idiot, it's English!"

Ryan practically ripped the coffee out of his friend and roommate's hands, and you were about to watch Matt rip it right back, but a vibration against your leg caught your attention a little more.

You looked down after swallowing a small amount of coffee. It was your phone, or maybe a phantom buzz. Those happened quite a bit. Either way, you were curious and checked your phone. You were expecting it to be a tweet from someone who you had notifications turned on for.

Matt and Ryan were, of course, still going at it,"Touche isn't even English. It's fucking French!"

"I know!" Ryan raised his voice but still kept it quiet. Everyone who was in the room was either snickering or not paying any attention.

Your eyes checked the screen once it rose to meet them. You did see past notifications for Twitter, which you used too frequently. The one notification that made your heart race for some reason was a text from a number you didn't recognize. Maybe an old ex? Maybe a wrong number? You started to get anxious, so you stared at your phone, leaning forward to set your coffee aside while you gave all of your attention to your phone. You absolutely had to read the text and see for yourself.

When the phone recognized your face, you saw that it read underneath the foreign number:

_Hey! This is Dan. Sorry about the weird, random text!!_

The feeling you got in your heart felt like it was being tossed and shook around like a ragdoll being held by an upset toddler. You subconsciously touched your chest while reading more.

I was just wondering if you had time to talk for a second? If not that's totally okay and I get it, but I just wanted to ask.

You wanted to vomit. Dan hadn't spoken to you in a few days. You hadn't seen him in a few days, and now he was texting you. First of all, how the fuck did he even get your number??

Nearly sweating, you swallowed a lump in your throat and thought of a reply:

>Hey! No worries. Yeah, I got time to talk, what's up?

What the actual fuck were you doing? Did you forget about how you two almost kissed? How he rejected you after somewhat flirting with you? Was it even flirting? Did Dan even feel anything for you? Was your brain even working anymore? You knew that's exactly what he wanted to talk to you about. And you knew that hearing about it was just going to hurt, so why did you even agree to anything?

Because you knew you wanted this weird, whatever negative feeling, about Dan to be gone. You wanted things to be crisp, clear and clean, even if you did want to tear the clothes right off of Dan's body sometimes. It could be just like it was before. You knew you could do it and make it so, and Dan seemed to want the same. He actually reached out to you and appeared to be making an effort. Which was more than most guys had done for you.

While urgently waiting for a reply, you decided to add Dan's number into your phone. So you did, and named his contact as: "Dan" with a star emoji in front of it. The physical buzz from your phone nearly scared you, so you gasped.

The text from him read:

_Awesome!! I've actually been wanting to talk to you for awhile now, I've just been super busy and I know that sounds like a total asshole thing to say but I'm out of town and I'm texting you right now in the studio if that tells you anything haha_

You read the text over a few times just to give yourself a reality check, and then another text appeared.

I'm sure you know what its about, you're a smart girl Y/N. I know I apologized to you already

Taking a deep inhale, you curled up in your office chair and prepared your body for whatever was to come.

And i honestly would rather have this conversation in person, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. And I just want to fix things as soon as possible, you know?

You were about to start typing when Dan had started to double text:

_Look_

_I know_

_This is kinda shitty so you don't even have to respond. I just want to let you know that I truly am sorry. I have felt god awful ever since. I really do enjoy your company Y/N. And you are a nice, attractive young lady. I'm really sorry I brought you into that situation and then shoved you away and froze up like a coward. I like you and I want things to be okay at the office when we see each other._

_God_

_That sounded really pretentious didn't it??_

_I am so sorry._

You quickly got a word in. You were barely breathing.

>It did lol ;) but I know exactly what you mean Dan. I promise I know exactly what you're feeling right now and I understand. I want things to be cool too. You're a cool dude and I'm sorry if I ever made you uncomfortable.

There was a few seconds of no responses from Dan so you felt especially anxious, you were hanging on pins and needles for him to look at the text and respond, but a minute went by and there was nothing. You liked him! You had liked him for years! And the concept of you liking him while he barely knew who you are suddenly hit you like a fucking bus.

Matt's voice dragged you out of your thoughts,"Heyyyy Y/N? You okay? Texting a cute guy?" He teased.

Your face instantly went red without you even trying, but you tried to seem unphased. You brushed him off with an eye roll,"Maybe I'm texting a cute girl Matt."

"Yeah don't be so fucking insensitive!" Ryan was still digging into him, so Matt turned his attention back to bickering with him.

Free again to think about Dan. You looked back at your phone to happily find out that he replied:

_You could never make me uncomfortable_

It was just that text for a second, and you were left to stare at it in wonder of what exactly that meant. Butterflies started to emerge from your stomach, the gross imagery made it worse.

_Sorry! I'm recording and doing a bunch of NSP stuff right now :(_

_But yes! I'm glad you agree. If you ever need to talk to me Y/N. I'm here. I want to be your friend._

So, there's no other feelings whatsoever? Would that be too much to hope for?

Would that be so bad though? Just to be friends with the guy you idolized for years? Now your mind was fighting with itself, which soon gave you a migraine already.

>Thank you! I really appreciate you reaching out and getting a hold of me. Haha for your efforts I'll forgive you ;)

You exhaled sharply at yourself.

>I want to be your friend too. I'm sorry too about the whole thing.

You started to type more but you ended up deleting and retyping. Dan's incoming text stopped you.

_Don't be! It's all good :) we can put it past us and laugh about it, right?_

Yeah..it was kinda funny wasn't it? Now that you thought about it all you started to giggle.

There was a faint pain in your heart that you just couldn't ignore though, not even through genuine laughter.

\-----------------------

(a few days later, in the Grump Space. around 9 P.M)

Dan hadn't texted you much afterwards. He mostly left you alone to work, which you were fine with. You mingled around with people at the office and talked to Ross for the most part. The environment you worked in was so positive and friendly. It was almost too loose. Everyone joked around with each other, but business was done regardless. Suzy handled the Game Grumps merch as well as her own store from the office space, Matt and Ryan practically lived here with you because they recorded and edited their own videos and podcasts, on top of editing the Grumps videos. Ross was here most days with you as well to check up on you or to help you with a few things. Sometimes the two of you just chatted each other up. The topic changed from animation, to cartoons, to how it was living in Australia. You and Ross got a little close as well. He spoke very fondly of Holly and his animals, and sometimes reminisced with you about the people who used to work here; Barry and Kevin being a few of them he mentioned.

You had gotten accustomed to how things worked around here fairly quickly, and became quick friends with the other interns as well.

Occasionally, since Dan had your number, he shared stupid memes with you. And you did the same. A few of them lead into some casual conversation throughout the day, but they didn't last all day because one of you had always gotten busy.

It still blew your fucking mind that you were just texting Dan. You heard this man's voice every day for 4 years and now you were fucking texting him.

On top of that, you were actually fucking living in the house of the other man who's voice you heard for years. And you were becoming friends with his wife who you also adored? Maybe you were actually in the hospital and you were in a coma. Maybe you died. Thousands of thoughts rattled your brain like that at night, but at the end of the day, you knew this was an amazing opportunity, not only for personal reasons, but also for your craft. Ross was one of the best animators you knew, and he was knowledgeable. You knew you could learn a lot from him, which was why you were so eternally grateful to him and everyone else who was so kind.

You were browsing around on your laptop, somewhat listening to Ryan talk to Tucker about something. You weren't paying that much attention. It was probably about one of the Power Hours. You knew Dan and Arin were in the nearby room recording something. Now that you had a time strained job, you didn't have much time to catch up with their videos. But you managed. At first you thought it was a bit weird, this was the first time you watched Game Grumps after actually meeting them. It was more than a little off putting, but you had gotten used to it. They were basically the same damn people you listened to for years.

You knew they were probably finishing up Majora's Mask. Or maybe they were on to something new? Maybe they were doing a one shot game? You caught yourself a few times tuning in to hear Arin shout about something and Dan cackle with laughter about it. Or about the game. You were curious, but remained diligent with the task at hand...even though you weren't really doing anything.

Things were normal. You were happy. You were content, more than you had been in awhile, especially after that weird encounter with Dan. You cringed at the memory, but you managed to push it back.

Now, pushing into your attuned ear drums, Dan and Arin's voice got louder and more clear. The door to the recording room had opened.

"Your Postmate here?" Arin's voice rang.

Dan's replied,"fuck yeah, be right back!" and then Dan's form rounded the corner.

Hesitantly, your eyes found themselves flickering up to his figure when he appeared in your vision. He was tall as usual, wearing an old Ghost T-shirt and jeans, and a happy smile on his face. He looked so casual..how could he look so good like that?

"Hey! Your Postmate's? I already got it for you buddy-" Ryan called over to Dan as he walked into the lounge in order to reach the front door.

Dan rolled his eyes as he crossed over,"Whatever, Ryan. Thanks though!"

You didn't even know it, but you caught yourself staring at Dan as he traversed. You also found out that you were twirling your hair nervously around your finger. Scorning yourself, you made a small 'huff' and shoved your hand onto your lap.

For a few minutes, he was gone, and you were left to browse in peace.

But then he came back, making very pleased noises,"OoooOOoooh yeahh..come to Daddy-"

Hearing him say this numerous times on Game Grumps, you thought you'd be desensitized by this by now, but it turns out it subtly turned you on even more hearing him say those words out loud. No one told you, but you knew your face was turning a bright red. Your eyes landed right onto Dan while he held a bag that was from Shake Shack. Beginning to be curious, you imagined he had gotten a chicken sandwich. Good thing you didn't say any of that out loud, because it was a little creepy now that you thought about it.

Dan passed you again on his way back to the recording room, but he stopped when he was right in line with you. His eyes caught yours, and so did his smile,"Hey Y/N! You're still here huh? How's your night going?"

You had been here since this morning, and it was now 9 P.M. So you had been here most of the day. Dan got here at around 5 P.M, you remember because he waved at you. And that genuine little grin he owned was ingrained into your mind.

You blinked back to reality, to this very moment,"It's good. Busy, which is how I like it..you got Shake Shack huh? Again?" You teased him, curling your own lips into a grin.

Dan shook the bag in his hands gently,"Don't judge. It's way better at night time.."

"I've never had it..but I'll take your word for it Dan."

"You've never had Shake Shack?" Dan's eyes widened and his expression turned from warm to pleasantly surprised. The whites of his eyes got more intense, and his smile opened to a shocked mouth.

"I lived in the Midwest.." you boasted, your smile growing at Dan's silly ways. "We don't have Shake Shacks around there."

Dan chuckled,"It's probably for the better, honestly." He raised the bag up slightly to indicate it,"Just think about Taco Bell..the end result is the same."

You laughed along with him and shook your head. You had originally thought after that comment he would return back to the recording room, but he didn't. He was still standing there in front of you.

He said,"You've never had it though? Do you want some of my shake? That's about the only menu item that doesn't kill your insides...as much-"

Flutters and kicks of your stupid, stupid heart were flipping around inside your chest. God dammit why did he have to be so nice?? Of course you said yes.

You acted like it was nothing and agreed, eyeing the plastic cup as Dan pulled it out with his toned looking arm and hand,"You get chocolate or vanilla?"

"Vanilla," Dan answered,"Do you not like vanilla?"

"Oh no no..vanilla's my favorite." You shook your head and smiled at Dan as he handed you the shake.

Dan chuckled and glanced at the ground for a second. You could've sworn he mumbled something under his breath. It sounded like he had said 'well that's a shame'. But you weren't gonna ask him to repeat himself. You were honestly probably hearing things. Hearing things you wanted to hear.

"Good. I'm gonna set this down in the recording room and be right back for the shake." He held up the bag again and then started towards the hall where the room was located.

You let out a small, soft giggle and said to Dan as he departed for a moment,"Better hurry..there may not be a shake for you to come back to!" Then you sucked gently on the straw and practically gulped down the delicious shake. It was similar to a diner's back home, creamy and sweet, and most of all cold. You cursed yourself because of the brain freeze you created for yourself, and also for how comfortable you acted with Dan. It was border line flirty. Almost too comfortable.

Quicker than expected, Dan returned with a somewhat childish grin on his face,"You didn't drink it all did you?"

"I would never.." You said in a very fake and condescending manner, stealing one last sip.

The smile widened on his handsome face,"Uh huh..thank you Y/N-" Dan graciously took the shake back from you and immediately wrapped his lips around the straw. The fact that his lips were yours were a few seconds ago was painstakingly obvious, and his mouth was all you could look at. It was all you could think about.

"No problem.." You said in an almost monotone. You were dumbly distracted. You watched as his lips pursed around the straw tip and then his Adam's apple bob up and then down as he swallowed.

Dan's chuckle was what brought you out of your gaze. Instantly, your face began to burn as red as a tomato.

"Was it any good?"

Out of instinct you swallowed and pretended you didn't just ogle Dan while he drank a damn milkshake,"Oh yeah. I liked it."

"Good." he said simply, and with a casual wink he made his way back to the recording room with his shake,"I'll see you round!"

The wink was friendly in nature but every god damn time he even breathed it caught your attention. You tried your best to get the image of him being charming and winking again by waving,"See ya-"

And after that you stuck your nose back into your laptop, waiting and praying that the red tint in your cheeks would disappear as well as the haunting image of Dan's lips.

\-----------------------

"You're going to karaoke right bud?"

"Duh, I never miss a karaoke night with you Arin-" Dan scoffed as he set aside his shake that he had by now finished. He was very glad he finished it and very glad that Arin and the show he co-hosted with him distracted him from the fact that Y/N's lips had wrapped themselves around the exact same straw. And now he was cursing himself, because now he found himself thinking about it again.

Idiot.

Arin nodded happily,"Good. Same place, so don't go to the wrong one-" he joked.

"That almost happened once, dude." Dan defended with a grin while he dusted off his jeans. He stood up and reached for his empty fast food bag.

For a split second, Dan's stomach dropped because he had just thought of Y/N, and how she probably would end up not going. She would miss out on the fun all because of him. Now he was in an even shittier mood. He grabbed the bag a little tighter than necessary.

Arin noticed and gave him a tight lipped, reassuring smile,"Just making sure you don't fuck anything up Dan."

Dan gave in to his gloomy mood, much to Arin's dismay. He slumped his shoulders but kept his expression firm,"Little late for that."

"Dude-" Arin stood up now too so he was standing up straight, right next to his good friend. "You have to move past that. I'm sure she has too. Just relax and have fun with us tonight.." Resting a hand on Dan's shoulder, Arin's smile turned from reassuring to somber. "She probably won't even be there."

"Yeah Arin, that's what's pissing me off." Dan uttered in a low tone. He felt angry. He wasn't angry though..was he? Dan truthfully felt like a teenager again, bubbling and boiling with emotions that coincided and crashed with each other. He had some he didn't even understand.

In all reality, he did. He just wished he didn't.

"Dan.." Arin started, squeezing his friend's shoulder in order to get him to make eye contact.

"I just want things to go back to the way they were..and they are!" Dan defended, his voice slightly raising in pitch, almost squeaking. He shyly looked away from Arin then,"It's just.I don't want to make her uncomfortable by being in another public setting with me.."

His friend's smile evolved from sad to jovial, his eyes slightly squinting,"There won't be any alcohol this time buddy."

Arin being happy and goofy rubbed off on Dan, causing him to relax his stance. He softened emotionally and physically, and mirrored Arin's hand on his shoulder by putting one on his own,"You're right Arin. It was alcohol who started this whole thing."

The two shared a laugh and then a small, comforting bro hug. After they pulled away Dan tossed his trash away and started to walk out with Arin out of the Grump Space. And of course the first thing Dan laid his eyes on was Y/N. Why on earth was she still here this late? He expected that she went home shortly after he shared his milkshake.

Yet, here she was, bantering happily with Matt. Dan found himself rolling his eyes while he and Arin exited the recording space. He wasn't sure why either...or did he? There was a slight burning sensation in his chest and in the pit of his stomach. Heartburn maybe?

He had to watch as Matt asked the young intern,"Are you going to karaoke with everyone?"

"Karaoke?" her small voice repeated.

Dan had to stop listening, he had to tune her out. He shook his head and forced himself to look away from the two of them. She couldn't even be in his peripherals.

Of course. Arin the Asshole opened his mouth and raised his voice so Y/N and Matt could hear,"Yeah! We're all going. It'll be pretty hilarious hearing us all try to sing!"

Dan stopped in his tracks to stare at him, wide eyed and confused.

"Dude-" He whispered.

"What?" Arin mouthed right back to him over his shoulder.

Y/N replied,"Suzy's my ride..sooo-"

"That's a yes!" Arin answered for her and shot a finger gun at her, and then continued his walk to his wife's workspace, where Dan followed hesitantly.

He wanted to run after Arin and punch him right in the arm, but he decided to do that later. And not in front of a young lady. So he turned his torso towards Matt and Y/N and smiled while he waved quickly,"See you two there!" He bade his goodbye, and then he was on Arin like a dog on peanut butter.

Once he reached his friend and Matt and Y/N were out of earshot, Dan whispered, only a little louder than before,"Um, Arin? The fuck was that?"

Arin turned to look at his suddenly confused and lanky co host,"What was what?"

"A few minutes ago, you told me she probably wouldn't come, and you basically told her to come!" Dan kept his voice to a hoarse whisper, brow furrowed.

It was Arin's turn to roll his eyes,"Yeah, I knew she probably wouldn't, but if anything is gonna change between you two, no matter what that change is, you two have to hang outside of work.."

He was right, and Dan knew it. He also hated it. With a soft, long sigh, Dan scratched the back of his neck while Arin crossed his arms. He knew this would be a good opportunity to test the waters and see if he and Y/N could actually be friends, or whatever.

"But also-" Arin interrupted Dan's thought train,"You two need some fun. Like I said before, just relax and have fun with everyone. Whatever happens, happens."

Defeated, but also somewhat giddy, Dan nodded,"You're right Arin. I'll see you at the karaoke bar."

\--------------------------------------

Dan was going. He saw you and waved goodbye, and said he'd meet you there. Your heart was suddenly fluttering and you felt a similar feeling you hadn't felt since you snuck out of the house when you were 15. Anxious and excited, you beamed at Matt, trying not to look like a lovestruck idiot.

"Is Ryan going too?"

"He's not sure, I think Allie and Leighton and Jory are going though. You'll get a chance to hang out with the gang." Matt quirked his lips into a smirk.

"The gang?" you crossed your arms, suspicious. You'd seen and spoken to Jory, Allie and Leighton a few times, but you had never once heard anyone call themselves a 'gang'. Especially with Matt.

"The cool kids gang..you wouldn't understand."

"Uh huh-" you eyed him up and down like you definitely believed him.

"You're just jealous that-" A ringtone interrupted whatever he was about to say. He paused and deftly flipped his phone out of his pocket, catching it and sliding a finger across the screen to accept the call. He held a finger up while looking at you, backing up to leave,"Hello?" He mouthed to you and changed his hand from one finger to an open wave, 'See ya Y/N.'

"Byeee-" You whispered to him.

As Matt departed, your mind began to race to what you needed to bring with you, since Suzy was probably going to go straight to this karaoke place. You patted your jeans for your own phone, but you were sad to find out it wasn't there. So you went back to the last place you remember having it, the lounge where you had your laptop open.

You picked up the pace on your way there and decided to lightly jog into the room, since you didn't know exactly when Suzy was going to leave. That was all you needed right?

"Dan!" You gasped in surprise at the tall, lanky and curly headed man that was headed into the room at the same time as you were.

"Y/N!" He laughed and made a cheap imitation of the noise you had just made.

"Shut up-" You knew he was teasing. You smiled at him to let him know you knew. Although his sudden presence in the same room you were in made you grow curious. You tried desperately not to focus on the fact that you two were alone in the same place for the first time in awhile. Your mind wanted to wander. Easy Y/N..

You walked over to the desk where you yourself was lounging,"Forget something?"

"Yeah, just my phone. You?" Dan cocked his head slightly. It was so fucking cute and charming that he could've been a puppy.

"U-uh yeah. Forgot mine too." You gestured with your phone that you now held in your hand.

Dan's chuckle rang in your ears and settled itself deep into your heart,"Nice one." He then slinked past you and went into the recording room where you assumed he had left his phone. There was a growing suspicion within you that made you think whether or not he really had forgotten his phone.

But that was a very stupid suspicion.

After you grabbed and checked yours for any important notifications, the sound of Dan closing the door made your head spin to look at him.

"Got it!" He said, holding it up high and looking very proud of himself.

You fake clapped with a condescending grin,"I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks-" Dan adopted a voice that was reminiscent of Steve Urkel or a stereotypical nerd on a Tv show or movie. It made you laugh, and pulled a little at your heartstrings. His wide, sparkling smile didn't help either of those feelings.

He walked over to you and you suddenly became hyper aware of everything but at the same time you only focused on Dan, on his footsteps as he approached, his features becoming more and more clear, the lingering smell of his cologne even after the day had long been over. He even had a stray curl that got stuck in front of his eye once he had gotten close enough. You subconsciously wet your lip while Dan put on his white and black striped jacket and raked that stray curl away from his face. The gesture alone was enough to take your breath away.

"You going tonight?" He asked casually.

You nodded, politely putting your phone into the pocket of your jeans,"Mmhmm. I've never been to a karaoke bar before."

Dan zipped up his jacket once he was a few feet away fro you. It was a comfortable distance, but you could tell 10000% that there was unresolved tension. At least on your side,"You'll love it. It's like the party, except more fun I think. And less alcohol for you, kiddo."

Kiddo? Your heart plummeted.

Your eyes ran over Dan's face for a second before you replied with,"Are you gonna sing?" Your mind then started to go over everything you remembered from that first office party. You remembered having a glass of wine, talking to Holly, and being utterly entranced with Dan's performance and rendition of 'Africa'. You remembered how his eyes pierced into your soul in the nicest way possible. It was like you could've watched him forever. If there was any chance to be able to get a glimpse of that side of Dan again, you would take it. Whether that was good fo you or not, you didn't care at the moment.

"Pftt-" Dan scoffed and waved his hand at your question,"No, I'm gonna let all the non musicians have a little fun tonight." He joked, adjusting the collar on his jacket you had seen him wear time and time again,"Yes. I will definitely be singing. What about yourself?" He asked.

You had to process the question, so you swallowed while smiling somewhat nervously. You didn't have a voice like Dan's. It wasn't even close. "We'll see. If you suck then I'll think about showing you up." You said glibly.

Dan appeared to eye you up and down like he was amused with the sass you were giving him. It sent a shiver up your spine, but you knew you were probably just imagining it. His smile was distant, but visible,"Then I guess I'll just have to sing off key to get your ass up there like the rest of us huh?"

The two of you shared a little laugh, and while Dan was snickering, he placed his phone into his pocket as well. You watched his body move before looking back up into his eyes,"I don't know.." You shrugged, and shyly looked to the side, like you were a pathetic school girl admitting she liked her crush,"You sang Africa really well at the last party.."

"Oho.." There was Dan's deep little chuckle again. Whatever tension you felt between the two of you softened yet heightened at the same time. What the fuck were you doing?

Getting way too comfortable with each other. Again.

But it was so easy to be comfortable with him. You could say whatever you wanted, just about. You felt most like yourself around Dan..and most of all you felt..happy.

Dan continued,"You actually remember me singing that night?" He smirked. Probably because you poked one of his pride buttons.

"Oh stop it!" Instinctively, you reached out to smack at Dan's arm, which he allowed you to do,"I wasn't that drunk, Dan."

"Just keep telling yourself that Y/N.." Dan kept his prideful, playful and snide demeanor up as he rubbed at the spot where you his his arm.

He had said that sentence in such a low, gravelly purr that your mind played it over a few times just to hear it again. His voice was like liquid chocolate. But the words and meaning behind what he said stuck in your mind more than anything. You still had no idea what had happened that night. Dan didn't tell you, and you didn't ask. It couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"It can't have been that bad, I remember everything up until that point." You added.

Dan shoved his hands into his jacket pocket,"I asked you multiple times if you wanna know Y/N." he said, still messing around,"It's gonna be a mystery forever.." He started to giggle again, in turn causing you to do the same.

After he stopped though, Dan closed the gap between the two of you, but he didn't step in front of you. He walked in the direction of the door, but stopped at your side. The sudden proximity caused you to give him a look of concern. He was so much closer too, not as close as about a week ago, but pretty damn close.

His hand brushed against yours. It was out of its pocket and his knuckles were intentionally and physically touching yours. It was a simple gesture, and not inherently a romantic one either. Regardless, your eyes read Dan's expression as worried. Why would he look at you like that?

His handsome brow furrowed while his bony knuckles touched your free hand,"Just be careful, okay Y/N?" His finger tips then slid across your own knuckles and soon his body warmth faded away.

You were left alone after a solid,"Okay-" that somehow fell out of your mouth. Dan's mouth curled into a satisfied grin, and in a flash he was out of the room and out of the building.


End file.
